Fire inquiry widens as toll keeps rising

BRITAIN: The death toll from the Grenfell Tower disaster rose to 79 yesterday as police said they were now conducting a wide-ranging criminal investigation.

Commander Stuart Cundy of the Metropolitan Police said the investigation was on a ‘‘truly, truly significant’’ scale, ‘‘looking at all criminal offences that may have been committed’’.

Details of the investigation came as a residents’ group claimed the cladding blamed for spreading the fire had only been installed to make the block look nicer.

It also emerged that the insulation used in the refurbishment of the tower releases toxic gases when burned.

Cundy said police would examine everything from the cause of the fire to the management of the building, recent refurbishments and fire safety measures.

The Grenfell Action Group, a residents’ association started in opposition to development in the area, warned last year that residents feared that ‘‘only a catastrophic event’’ would expose their concerns over fire safety.

In a blog post yesterday, it criticised the fitting of cladding to the building, saying: ‘‘The cladding on Grenfell Tower was intended to pimp it up so that it wouldn’t spoil the image of creeping gentrification that the council are intent on creating.’’

The government has written to councils and housing associations across England urging them to check the cladding on tower blocks. Councils with buildings more than 18 metres high with cladding made with aluminium composite have been asked to supply samples for testing.

News of the higher death toll came as four more victims were identified, including Khadija Saye, 24, also known as Ya-Haddy Sisi Saye, a photographer whose work is on show at the Venice Biennale. The others were Anthony Disson, 65, Abufars Ibrahim, 39, and Khadija Khalloufi, 52.

Saye died three days before her story was to have been told in a BBC documentary.

Saye, who lived with her mother Mary Mendy, 54, posted a message on Facebook while trapped in their 20th-floor flat. ‘‘There’s a fire in my council block, can’t leave the flat,’’ she wrote. ‘‘Please pray for me and my mum.’’

In a happier development, the Khudair family of Syrian refugees – thought to be a mother, father and three adult daughters aged between 19 and 24 – who were reported missing by an English tutor, were found alive.

One daughter, Rawan, said she and her family were alive and in good health. She said they were getting help from the local community, who had been ‘‘very nice’’. – The Times