STAY WITH US

Breaking




Translate

Friday 16 June 2017

The police officer overseeing the Grenfell Tower probe says he hopes the death toll will not reach triple figures.


Seventeen people have so far been confirmed dead as the fire service continues a room by room search, with six bodies removed and 11 still to be retrieved.
The fire service says "a good half" of the building has yet to be searched in detail and many relatives are still desperately looking for loved ones.
The upper floors in particular may need shoring up before firefighters can safely get into the flats.
The Queen, accompanied by Prince William, visited a relief centre on Friday morning.

GRENFELL RESIDENT FARRELL VT
Video:Rising resident anger over circumstances leading up to tower blaze
:: Live updates: Anger grows as criminal probe launched
Police - who have launched an investigation into potential criminal wrongdoing - have warned the search could take months.
"It may be that ultimately some victims remain unidentified," said Metropolitan Police Commander Stuart Cundy.
"For those of us that have been down there, it's pretty emotional, so I hope it is not triple figures, but I can't be drawn on the numbers."

Gloria Trevisan and Marco Gottardi
Image:Missing: Gloria Trevisan and Marco Gottardi had lived in the tower for three months

Civil engineering student Mohammed Alhajali phoned a friend to say goodbye
Image:Civil engineering student Mohammed Alhajali phoned a friend to say goodbye
Syrian refugee Mohammed Alhajali, 23, and artist Khadija Saye, 24, have been named as the first victims as anger grows about why apparent warnings over fire safety in the tower were ignored.
A 'Justice for Grenfell' rally is being planned for Friday evening, with more than 1,700 people on Facebook saying they will march on Westminster.
Theresa May visited the west London estate on Thursday, but has been attacked for not meeting residents.
The Prime Minister, who has announced a public inquiry into the fire, only met emergency services.
However, it was announced on Friday morning that the PM would be visiting the injured in hospital.

Theresa May is briefed by the emergency services at the scene in north Kensington
Image:Theresa May has been criticised for not meeting the public during her visit
:: Grenfell Tower fire: Appeals to find missing residents
One furious local woman said: "She really should have listened to people's anger. That's not a prime minister 'for the people', as the Tories said - not at all. Nobody here was spoken to."
Former cabinet minister Michael Portillo was one of those to criticise her, saying she "didn't use her humanity".
Conservative minister Tobias Ellwood - who tried to save PC Keith Palmer during the Westminster Bridge attack - defended the PM and said it was due to "security concerns".
Sadiq Khan was heckled during his own visit to the charred block.

The charred remains of a Grenfell Tower flat. Pic: Declan Wilkes
Image:The charred remains of a Grenfell Tower flat. Pic: Declan Wilkes
He faced a difficult moment when a seven-year-old bluntly asked him: "How many children died? What are you going to do about it?"
London's mayor said an interim report into the disaster should be published this summer.
"We need answers now," he said. "We can't afford to wait a number of years."
Jeremy Corbyn was photographed meeting volunteers, and with his arm around people when he visited the 24-storey tower.
The Labour leader has suggested luxury Kensington apartments lying empty should be used to house people without a place to stay.
"The many residents I met today are very angry," the Labour leader said.
"Their concerns about the building were not responded to and their questions were not answered."

Lucy Masoud, a West London firefighter and an official in the Fire Brigades Union
Video:'Tower fire spread 14 floors in eight minutes'
That anger stems from repeated safety concerns raised to the council over a number of years by residents.
Many blame the cladding added last year for allowing the fire to spread with frightening speed. Witnesses said it raced up the building in as little as 15 minutes.
Sky News sourced cladding made from the same material as that at Grenfell Tower - aluminium layers sandwiching polyethylene insulation in the middle - and tested it in a fire safety testing laboratory.
We subjected it to temperatures of 700 degrees Celsius - a medium heat for testing. After two minutes in the heat the panel started smoking, then it burst in to flames. The fire at Grenfell Tower burned at 1000 degrees Celsius.
The Times reported that the material believed to have been used for the refurbishment has been banned in high-rise buildings in the US.

The same material as that used in the Grenfell Tower cladding burns
Video:How flammable is tower cladding? We test it
Locals also told Sky News of a gas installation they say left exposed pipes in the tower's stairwell, with a witness saying he saw blue flames shooting out.
The lack of a sprinkler system has surprised many but the leader of Kensington and Chelsea council said not all residents were in favour in case they delayed the refurbishment.
Experts estimate they could have been added at a cost of £200,000 during the £10m building works.
But Nick Paget-Brown told BBC Newsnight: "Many residents felt that we needed to get on with the installation of new hot water systems, new boilers and that trying to retrofit more would delay the building and that sprinklers aren't the answer."
  1. Smoke was still coming from the tower hours after the fire began
  2. Tower block fire at Latimer Road
    A devastating fire started at Grenfell Tower in west London just before 1am on 14 June
  3. Firefighters stand amid debris in a childrens playground near a tower block severly damaged by a serious fire, in north Kensington, West London
  4. Smoke billows from a fire that has engulfed the 24-storey Grenfell Tower in west London
  5. Tower block fire at Latimer Road
  6. A firefighter examines the charred building
  7. A firefighter investigates a floor after a fire engulfed the 24-storey Grenfell Tower
  8. Smoke billows from Grenfell Tower
  9. Smoke billows from a fire that has engulfed the 24-storey Grenfell Tower in west London
  10. Firefighters were still battling the blaze late on Wednesday afternoon
  11. Flames and smoke billow from a tower block at Latimer Road in West London
  12. Flames and smoke engulf a tower block, in north Kensington, West London
  13. Fire fighters tackle the building after a huge fire engulfed the 24 story Grenfell Tower in Latimer Road, West London
  14. Smoke billows from a tower block severely damaged by a serious fire, in north Kensington, West London
  15. Smoke billows from the tower block
  16. Flames and smoke billow from a tower block at Latimer Road in West London
  17. Fire fighters gather near the building
  18. Debris on a roof after a huge fire engulfed the 24 story Grenfell Tower in Latimer Road, West London
  19. A firefighter investigates a floor after a fire engulfed the 24-storey Grenfell Tower
  20. The A40 road is closed as flames and smoke billow from a tower block at Latimer Road in West London
  21. A man watches as smoke continues to rise from the building after a huge fire engulfed the 24 story Grenfell Tower in Latimer Road, West London
  22. Flames and smoke billow from a tower block at Latimer Road in West London
  23. Smoke billows from Grenfell Tower as firefighters attempt to control a huge blaze
  24. Smoke billows as firefighters tackle a serious fire in a tower block at Latimer Road in West London
  25. Flames and smoke billow from a tower block at Latimer Road in West London
  26. Flames and smoke billow from a tower block at Latimer Road in West London
  27. Flames and smoke billow from a tower block at Latimer Road in West London
  28. Flames and smoke billow from a tower block at Latimer Road in West London
  29. Flames and smoke billow from a tower block at Latimer Road in West London
  30. The burnt facade of a tower block is seen as firefighters tackle a serious fire at Latimer Road in West London
  31. Thick smoke rises from the building after a huge fire engulfed the 24 story Grenfell Tower in Latimer Road, West London
  32. Apartment block on fire in West London in the day light.
  33. The blaze has destroyed Grenfell Tower
  34. A pile of donated clothes, sleeping bags and water near Grenfell Tower
  35. Donated clothes are laid out for those affected by the Grenfell Tower fire
  36. Supplies of oxygen are brought to the scene
  37. Emergency services on the scene of the fire
  38. Weary firefighters
  39. Grenfell Tower was engulfed in flames
  40. A man comforts a boy near the Grenfell Tower block fire
  41. Smoke was still coming from the tower hours after the fire began
  42. Tower block fire at Latimer Road
Meanwhile, the huge charity effort to help those affected shows no sign of letting up.
JustGiving said on Thursday afternoon that £1.6m had been raised for those affected by the fire.
With local charities and community groups inundated with clothes and food, music mogul Simon Cowell also revealed he is planning a charity single to raise money.
He tweeted: "We hope to confirm a record tomorrow which will raise some money for the many people affected by this tragedy. Making calls tonight."
Comedian Al Murray has also said he will donate all profits from his two shows in London this weekend.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Chat box

Most Popular

Contact Form

Name

Email *

Message *