Public inquiry ordered into London blaze
Print Edition
BRITISH Prime Minister Theresa May has ordered a full public inquiry into the high-rise apartment blaze that killed at least 17 people in London amid growing public anxiety that similar blazes could occur in other housing blocks around the country.
May moved quickly to establish exactly what caused the fire — and why it moved so quickly, engulfing the building that housed as many as 600 people in less than an hour.
Fire safety engineers were stunned at the pace in which flames tore through the 120-apartment Grenfell Tower early on Wednesday when most people were asleep. Senior fire officials described the progression of the fire as unprecedented.
“We need to know what happened,” May said. “We need to know an explanation. We owe that to the families, to the people who have lost loved ones and the homes in which they lived.”
London firefighters, many traumatized by the devastation, were working yesterday to make the building safe so they could continue searching for more victims. Entire families are missing, and the death toll is certain to rise. The apartment tower is so huge there is still no exact count of the missing.
In addition, 74 people were injured in the blaze, with 37 in hospital and 17 of them still in a critical condition.
Fire Commissioner Dany Cotton said it would be a “miracle” if anyone else was found alive.
It is unsafe for firefighters to go into parts of the 24-story tower, so the fire department is working with structural engineers to shore up the building so they can complete a “finger-tip search” of the entire structure, Cotton said. Structures may need to be erected inside to make the building safe enough to search. Cotton said dogs would be brought in to help.
Firefighters trying to race into the building were protected from falling debris by police officers, who placed riot shields over their heads. One woman threw a baby out the window to escape the flames. Others tossed small children. Some adults jumped. Their fates were unclear at this time.
“I spoke to one of my officers, who was very near when someone came out the window, and he was in tears. And he is a professional fire officer,” Cotton told Sky News. “We like to think of ourselves as ‘roughty, toughty’ and heroes — they are heroes — but they have feelings. People were absolutely devastated by yesterday’s events.”
More than 200 firefighters worked through the night at the public housing block. Now that the heavy black smoke has cleared, the public could only gape at the huge burned-out hulk in west London’s working-class, multi-ethnic North Kensington neighborhood.
A tenants’ group had complained for years about the risk of a fire in the building. The cause of the fire is under investigation, and authorities have refused to speculate on what could have started the blaze. But the focus has turned a refurbishment completed last year.
The project included the installation of insulated exterior cladding, double-glazed windows and a communal heating system. Fire experts say investigators will need to look at what materials were used and who approved their use.
More than a million pounds (US$1.27 million) has been raised to help victims of the tragedy as volunteers and charities worked through the night to find shelter, food and clothes for people who had lost everything.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
