Detectives investigating the "horrific" murder of two French exchange students say they are following up 25 calls from members of the public after a witness appeal.

The bodies of Laurent Bonomo, 23, and Gabriel Ferez, 23, were found in a burned out block of flats in Sterling Gardens, New Cross, at 22:10 BST on Sunday.

Yesterday the Metropolitan police said the biochemistry students had suffered a "frenzies, brutal" attack, with Laurent being stabbed 200 times and Gabriel receiving 50 knife wounds.

On Friday a Scotland Yard spokesperson told inthenews.co.uk several lines of inquiry were being looked into.

He explained that police were examining the possibility the double murder was linked to a burglary in the victims' flat, with a laptop, two Sony PSPs and two mobile phones being stolen.

Detective Chief Inspector Mick Duthie said at a news conference on Thursday Laurent and Gabriel, who had only been in the UK since May, had been bound and killed before the fire broke out.

DCI Duthie went on to say the injuries were the worst he or anyone else working on the case had ever seen, describing the extent of the wounds as "horrific".

An eyewitness has described seeing a white male fleeing the scene shortly before the fire broke out in Sterling Gardens.

Police have called on anyone with any information relating to the case to contact them on 0208 721 4155 or 0800 555 111.
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