Firefighters will soon begin a painstaking, thorough search for more bodies in the shell of a London apartment block destroyed by fire on Wednesday.

Seventeen people had been confirmed dead by Thursday morning, but dozens of people were missing, including three families who lived in the upper floors of Grenfell Tower. Rescuers said they didn't expect to find any more survivors.

The search and rescue teams will use sniffer dogs and build internal shoring to stabilize the structure as they go. Firefighters have been to all 24 floors but have not been able to conduct a thorough search because of the building's fragility. The fire commissioner estimated that the search for bodies could take weeks.