Seven years after more than 70 people within the Grenfell Tower hearth, households are hoping to get the solutions they have been in search of when a closing report is launched in regards to the incident.
Families of the victims have been relentlessly campaigning for the release of a “landmark report” that will prompt a meaningful change in building construction and regulation.
The report is the culmination of more than 300 public hearings, 1,600 witness statements, and the disclosure of 320,000 documents that formed the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Grenfell Tower tragedy.
The Grenfell Memorial Wall in west London
Lucy North/PA Wire
When was the Grenfell Tower fire?
The Grenfell Tower, a high-rise social housing block in Kensington, caught hearth on June 14, 2017.
It had been inbuilt 1977, however the lethal cladding which brought about the hearth to unfold was added simply years earlier between 2012 and 2016.
The 24-storey constructing consisted of 129 residential flats, and plenty of residents have been asleep when the hearth broke out early that morning.
How did the Grenfell Tower hearth begin?
Simply earlier than 1am on June 14, 2017, {an electrical} fault in a resident’s fridge-freezer triggered a small kitchen hearth on the fourth ground of the constructing.
Firefighters arrived on the scene inside minutes, however the first responders rapidly seen the hearth spreading.
Round quarter-hour after the hearth broke out, the flames reached the outside cladding of the constructing and started quickly ascending the block.
The severity and speedy unfold of the hearth have been attributed to the cladding, which didn’t adjust to constructing laws.
Whereas the hearth continued to unfold, residents have been initially instructed to stay of their flats and await rescue from the hearth division.
Official recommendation to residents was solely modified virtually two hours later when it was too late for a lot of residents trapped on the higher flooring.
Thought-about the worst UK residential hearth for the reason that Second World Conflict, the blaze burned for round 60 hours.
Lucy North/PA Wire
How many individuals died within the Grenfell Tower hearth?
Of the victims, 70 died on the scene, whereas two later died in hospital.
Those that died got here from 19 completely different international locations worldwide and introduced a wealth of tales, expertise, jobs, and religions with them.
The youngest sufferer was an unborn child referred to as Logan Gomes, who died in his mom’s womb due to the smoke. He was one among 19 kids who died within the tragedy.
What have earlier stories stated?
Two years after the catastrophe, an preliminary 2019 report discovered that the tower’s cladding failed to fulfill constructing laws, resulting in the “profoundly surprising” hearth unfold.
It additionally criticised the hearth division for instructing residents to stay of their flats.
Based on Reuters, 58 folks and 19 companies are underneath investigation for his or her position within the hearth. Nevertheless, prison prosecutions are unlikely quickly as investigators should think about the September 4 report’s findings.
Many households across the UK reportedly nonetheless dwell in buildings that comprise equally lethal cladding.
Will Grenfell Tower be rebuilt?
The ruins of the gutted Grenfell Tower nonetheless stand as a heartbreaking reminder of the incident.
Discussions are ongoing about its future and whether or not it’ll be changed into a memorial or demolished in the end.
Authorities are reportedly no nearer to deciding what to do with the constructing. Nevertheless, it’s unlikely that will probably be rebuilt.
As an alternative, the present plan focuses on the eventual demolition of the tower. The positioning is being maintained, with common updates on actions comparable to rewrapping the constructing and monitoring air high quality. A principal contractor, DUK, has been appointed to handle the positioning.
