Criminal inquiry on blaze

A CRIMINAL inquiry has been opened into the devastating Grenfell Tower fire, which has claimed the lives of dozens of people.

The inquiry comes as the name of the man whose malfunctioning fridge is thought to have sparked the blaze, taxi driver Behailu Kebede, was published in the British press.

Mr Kebede, who migrated from Ethiopia, lived in flat 16 on the fourth floor and was the first to alert the fire brigade and neighbours when his fridge sparked a fire just before 1am on Wednesday.

While there is no formal confirmation of what started the fire, it is thought this small electrical fire spread through exterior cladding to a monster blaze that engulfed the London building within 15 minutes.

Mr Kebede, who is now staying with friends, is reportedly distraught.

Scotland Yard confirmed it would hold a criminal inquiry, as Prime Minister Theresa May also pledged an independent public inquiry to be headed by a judge.

The inquiries will look at why residents’ fire safety concerns were not addressed and what role the exterior cladding installed last year played in accelerating the fire’s spread.

It was also revealed the council which owns the building could have used fireresistant cladding for just $8000 more.

The Times revealed the cheaper cladding used was aluminium coated but had a plastic core — a type of cladding considered so unsafe in the US it is banned on tall buildings because of its flammability.

With more than 50 people missing, resident anger boiled over yesterday, with police called to protect London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who was heckled as he attended a community meeting at the foot of the gutted tower. SISTER SURVIVORS: Page 30