Grenfell Tower final death toll stands at 71

[Blackleaf]

Seventy-one victims of the Grenfell Tower fire have been formally identified and police believe that all those who died have now been recovered.

The number of victims includes baby Logan Gomes, who was stillborn in hospital on 14 June, the day the 24-storey blaze broke out.

The final two victims to be formally identified have been named as Victoria King and daughter Alexandra Atala.

Grenfell Tower final death toll stands at 71

16 November 2017
BBC News

Messages of condolence for the victims of Grenfell Tower

Seventy-one victims of the Grenfell Tower fire have been formally identified and police believe that all those who died have now been recovered.

The number of victims includes baby Logan Gomes, who was stillborn in hospital on 14 June, the day the 24-storey blaze broke out.

The final two victims to be formally identified have been named as Victoria King and daughter Alexandra Atala.

The Met said it was providing "every support we can" to the bereaved.

Metropolitan Police Commander Stuart Cundy said: "I have been clear from the start that a priority for us was recovering all those who died, and identifying and returning them to their families.

"Specialist teams working inside Grenfell Tower and the mortuary have pushed the boundaries of what was scientifically possible to identify people.

"After the fire was finally put out, I entered Grenfell Tower and was genuinely concerned that, due to the intensity and duration of the fire, that we may not find, recover and then identify all those who died.

Victoria King, pictured, died in the flat alongside her daughter Alexandra Atala

"I know that each and every member of the team has done absolutely all they can to make this possible."

In June, the Met had a list of 400 missing people - some of whom were reported a number of times under different names or spellings, with one person in particular recorded 46 separate times.

The work to investigate and locate all those reported as missing was only concluded in the last few weeks, the Met said.

The family of Ms King, 71, and Ms Atala, 40, said they were "devastated" to learn of the pair's fate, adding that the mother and daughter were "devoted to each other".

The original missing persons list was also made higher by fraudulent cases, police said, with some individuals attempting to benefit financially from the tragedy.

There are a number of ongoing fraud investigations, and earlier this month one man pleaded guilty to fraud after claiming that his wife and son had both died in the fire.

The Met is also investigating alleged thefts from seven flats at Grenfell Tower, although no perpetrators have yet been identified, according to BBC home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw.

Searching every flat

Commander Cundy told BBC News: "There was only one way in and out of the tower and [CCTV] footage shows 223 people came out and survived."

He said not all 223 people were residents, some were visitors, and some residents were not in the tower at the time.

While the final stage of the search operation is not expected to conclude until early December, the Met said in a statement: "Based on all the work carried out so far and the expert advice, it is highly unlikely there is anyone who remains inside Grenfell Tower".

Specially trained officers from the Met, City of London Police and British Transport Police have been involved in the search and recovery operation, thoroughly searching every single flat on every single floor.

Officers have examined 15.5 tonnes of debris on each floor, helped by forensic anthropologists, archaeologists and forensic dentists or odontologists.

Grenfell Tower final death toll stands at 71 - BBC News

 

[justlooking]

Fake news.

Saddick Khan was told 200.

They aren't counting the illegals. Who don't exist.

 

[Blackleaf]

Fake news.

Saddick Khan was told 200.

They aren't counting the illegals. Who don't exist.

Scepticism persists over Grenfell death toll despite Met's final figure

Rumours about hundreds of victims quickly took hold after blaze, and mistrust of officials remains potent

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...grenfell-death-toll-despite-mets-final-figure

 

[darkbeaver]

Has anyone been charged yet?

 

[MHz]

hahahaha


In the renovation might I suggest sandblasted concrete on the outside and the foam insulation on the inside where a room cannot get hot enough to ignite the foam.

 

[Blackleaf]

Has anyone been charged yet?

Grenfell Tower: police may consider individual manslaughter charges

The criminal investigation into the Grenfell Tower disaster may consider individual as well as corporate manslaughter charges, Scotland Yard has said.

The news came as the latest victim of the disaster was named as eight-year-old Mehdi el-Wahabi – one of a family of five all believed to have died in the fire.

“Mehdi was a calm and friendly young boy who loved his family very much. He was loved by staff and pupils at his school who held a beautiful memorial and made a plaque in memory of him,” read a statement from his relatives. His cousin, Senate Jones, added: “You made me laugh and smile every day.”

At a briefing on Tuesday morning, officers said individual charges were a possibility as well as charges relating to fraud, misconduct, health and safety breaches, and breaches of fire safety regulations.

DCI Matt Bonner told reporters: “This isn’t to be taken as indication that there is any evidence that we have found that would support these types of offences … We will keep an open mind, gather the material that exists and then make decisions once we have had an opportunity to fully review everything.”

The suggestion that individual charges could be brought was welcomed by campaign groups, which have demanded prosecutions against those they believe bear some responsibility for the fire.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...-may-consider-individual-manslaughter-charges

Woman charged with fraud over Grenfell Tower fire

A woman has been charged with fraudulently claiming funds intended for the survivors of the Grenfell blaze.

Joyce Msokeri, from Sutton in south London, allegedly claimed her husband died in the tower block fire and obtained more than £10,000 allocated for victims.

It is alleged she also falsely claimed to have a child in intensive care following the west London blaze in June.

https://news.sky.com/story/woman-charged-with-fraud-over-grenfell-fire-11021350

 

[TenPenny]

Hopefully, the fire crews that responded to the first incident and then left will be charged as well.

 

[spaminator]

Grenfell Tower was a ’death trap’ due to failures by U.K. government and industry, inquiry finds
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Jill Lawless
Published Sep 04, 2024 • Last updated 1 day ago • 4 minute read

LONDON — A damning report on a deadly London high-rise fire concluded Wednesday that decades of failures by government, regulators and industry turned Grenfell Tower into a “death trap” where 72 people lost their lives.


The public inquiry into the 2017 blaze found no “single cause” of the tragedy, but said a combination of dishonest companies, weak or incompetent regulators and complacent government led the building to be covered in combustible cladding that turned a small apartment fire into the deadliest blaze on British soil since the Second World War.

The inquiry’s head, retired judge Martin Moore-Bick, said the deaths were avoidable and “all contributed to it in one way or another, in most cases through incompetence but in some cases through dishonesty and greed.”

Prime Minister Keir Starmer apologized on behalf of the British state, saying the tragedy “should never have happened” and promising to act on the report’s recommendations.


“Today is a long-awaited day for truth but it must now lead to a day of justice,” he told Parliament.

While the report may give survivors some of the answers they have long sought, they must wait to see whether anyone responsible will be prosecuted. Police will examine the inquiry’s conclusions before deciding on charges, which could include corporate or individual manslaughter.

They say prosecutions are unlikely before late 2026.

Natasha Elcock of the group Grenfell United urged authorities to deliver justice.

“We paid the price for systematic dishonesty, institutional indifference and neglect,” said Elcock, a survivor who lost her uncle in the fire.

The fire broke out in the early hours of June 14, 2017, in a fourth-floor apartment and raced up the 25-storey building like a lit fuse, fueled by flammable cladding panels on the exterior walls.


The tragedy horrified the nation and posed one central question, the report said: “How was it possible in 21st century London for a reinforced concrete building, itself structurally impervious to fire, to be turned into a death trap?”

The search for answers focused on a refurbishment completed in 2016 that covered the 1970s building in aluminum and polyethylene cladding — a layer of foam insulation topped by two sheets of aluminum sandwiched around a layer of polyethylene, a combustible plastic polymer that melts and drips on exposure to heat.

The report was highly critical of companies that made the cladding. It said they engaged in “systematic dishonesty,” manipulating safety tests and misrepresenting the results to claim the material was safe.


It said insulation manufacturer Celotex was unscrupulous, and another insulation firm, Kingspan, “cynically exploited the industry’s lack of detailed knowledge.” Cladding panel maker Arconic “concealed from the market the true extent of the danger,” the report said.

The three companies expressed sympathies to the bereaved, but all denied responsibility for the deaths. Arconic said its products were not unsafe. Kingspan said its “historical failings” were not “causative of the tragedy.” Celotex said the decision to combine its insulation with combustible cladding panels had been made by others.

The inquiry said the combustible cladding was used because it was cheap and because of “incompetence of the organizations and individuals involved in the refurbishment” -_ including architects, engineers and contractors — who all thought safety was someone else’s responsibility.


It concluded the failures multiplied because bodies in charge of enforcing building standards were weak, the local authority was uninterested and the “complacent” U.K. government — led in the seven years before the fire by the Conservative Party — ignored safety warnings because of a commitment to deregulation.

The inquiry has held more than 300 public hearings and examined around 1,600 witness statements.

An initial report published in 2019 criticized the fire department for initially telling residents to stay put and await rescue. By the time the advice was changed, it was too late for many on the upper floors to escape.

London Fire Brigade came in for further criticism for a “chronic lack of effective management and leadership,” poor training in high-rise fires and outdated communications equipment.


The Grenfell tragedy prompted soul-searching about inequality in Britain. Grenfell was a public housing building set in one of London’s richest neighborhoods, near the pricey boutiques and elegant houses of Notting Hill. The victims, largely people of color, came from 23 countries and included taxi drivers and architects, a poet, an acclaimed young artist, retirees and 18 children.

The report said the inquiry had “seen no evidence that any of the decisions that resulted in the creation of a dangerous building or the calamitous spread of fire were affected by racial or social prejudice,” though it said the public body that managed Grenfell had failed to treat residents with “understanding and respect.”

The prime minister said the tragedy “poses fundamental questions about the kind of country we are, a country where the voices of working class people and of those of color have been repeatedly ignored and dismissed.”


After the fire, the U.K. government banned metal composite cladding panels for new buildings and ordered similar combustible cladding to be removed from hundreds of tower blocks across the country. But the work hasn’t been carried out on some apartment buildings because of wrangling over who should pay.

Starmer said the work had been “far, far too slow.”

The report made multiple recommendations, including tougher fire safety rules, a national fire and rescue college and a single independent regulator for the construction industry to replace the current mishmash of bodies.

The ruined tower, which stood for months after the fire like a black tombstone on the west London skyline, still stands, covered in white sheeting. A green heart and the words “Grenfell forever in our hearts” are emblazoned at the top.

Sandra Ruiz, whose 12-year-old niece, Jessica Urbano Ramirez, died in the fire, said that “for me, there’s no justice without people going behind bars.”

“Our lives were shattered on that night. People need to be held accountable,” she said. “People who have made decisions putting profit above people’s safety need to be behind bars.”

— Associated Press writers Danica Kirka and Pan Pylas contributed to this report.

Grenfell Tower was a ’death trap’ due to failures by U.K. government and industry, inquiry finds

A report on a deadly London high-rise fire said failures by government, regulators and industry turned Grenfell Tower into a "death trap."

torontosun.com

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

Grenfell Tower was a ’death trap’ due to failures by U.K. government and industry, inquiry finds
. . .

The Grenfell tragedy prompted soul-searching about inequality in Britain. Grenfell was a public housing building set in one of London’s richest neighborhoods,

Well, as long as there was "soul searching," no need for criminal charges or inquiries seeking reforms.

All good. Nothing to see here. Let's leave all these good people alone while they search for their souls.