Police searching the remnants of a fire-wrecked mill in Oldham have recovered further human remains, which indicate a second victim.
Demolition workers came across human remains on Saturday, two days after police received reports that four Vietnamese men were missing and may have been involved in a fire.
That was 10 weeks after the blaze at Bismarck House Mill, a fire so intense it took four days to extinguish.
On Wednesday Greater Manchester police said specialist teams had recovered more remains, which pointed towards the existence of a second victim.
Det Supt Lewis Hughes said: “We are carrying out an extensive search of the remnants of the mill to ensure any further human remains are recovered in a way which is respectful to both the deceased and the bereaved. Meanwhile, our major incident team are continuing to liaise with partner agencies to ensure potential family members in Vietnam are fully informed and supported.
“Though we’ve now recovered human remains to suggest that at least two people were in the mill during the fire, we remain conscious of the report we received, on Thursday 21 July 2022, that four Vietnamese nationals were missing and may have been involved in a fire.”
Debbie Abrahams, the MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth, has said the process of identifying the human remains could take “weeks, if not months”.
The family of one Vietnamese man feared dead in the fire called a Catholic church in London to beg for help to find him.
Father Anthony Nguyen Van Tri, an assistant chaplain at the Vietnamese Catholic Community in London, said the church had been contacted by the family of a man who “hadn’t been heard from in almost three months”.
Hughes said that alongside the search and recovery efforts “extensive inquiries” were being made into the full circumstances of the fire.
He said: “Any criminal offences identified as part of this will be progressed immediately and appropriately. It is fundamental that those involved in this incident are provided with honest and accurate information at all times.”
One line of inquiry is whether the fire took hold in an illegal cannabis factory operating beneath a legitimate tile shop.
Police said they wanted to hear from anyone concerned about a missing loved one or “who has information about the circumstances surrounding the fire, including activity at the premises before 7 May”.
The incident has been referred to the force’s professional standards branch for review owing to previous contact relating to the fire and missing persons.
