Grenfell Tower fire, Britain’s deadliest since World War II, caused by ‘decades of failure,’ report says
By Christian Edwards, CNN
London (CNN) — The blaze that killed 72 people in Grenfell Tower in London was caused by “decades of failure” by the UK government and the construction industry that allowed the 24-storey building to be wrapped in flammable cladding, a seven-year public inquiry has found.
The fire began in the early hours of June 14, 2017, sparked by an electrical fault in a refrigerator on the fourth floor. What could have been a small house fire instead turned into Britain’s deadliest blaze since the Blitz, after the flames leapt to flammable insulation and cladding, which had been added to the tower during a major renovation the previous year.
In a 1,700 page report spanning seven volumes, Martin Moore-Bick, the chair of the inquiry, said the “systematic dishonesty” of the firms that made and sold the cladding and insulation had led to the blaze.
“The simple truth is that the deaths that occurred were all avoidable, and those who lived in the tower were badly failed over a number of years and in a number of different ways, by those who were responsible for ensuring the safety of the building and its occupied,” Moore-Bick said.
The report concluded that the fire was “the culmination of decades of failure by central government and other bodies in positions of responsibility in the construction industry,” he said.
Grenfell United, which represents the survivors and bereaved families of those killed in the blaze, said the report marked “a significant chapter in the journey to truth, justice and change,” but “justice has not been delivered.”
“The inquiry report reveals that whenever there’s a clash between corporate interest and public safety, governments have done everything they can to avoid their responsibilities to keep people safe,” it said in a statement. “The system isn’t broken, it was built this way.”
The inquiry had taken “longer than we hoped,” Moore-Bick said in a press conference, in part because it “unveiled many more matters of concern than we had previously expected.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said his thoughts are “wholly with those bereaved by, and survivors of, the Grenfell Tower tragedy and the residents in the immediate community,” according to PA.
He said the new Labour government will “carefully consider the report and its recommendations, to ensure that such a tragedy cannot occur again.”
The fire prompted a wave of inspections in similar high-rise buildings across the country, unveiling widespread use of flammable cladding. CNN has previously reported on the plight of homeowners unable to sell their apartments because banks are unwilling to lend against them, citing safety issues.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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