HOW INFERNO ENGULFED TO WER IN MINUTES
SHOCKING footage played at the inquiry shows the breathtaking speed at which the kitchen fire on the fourth floor quickly rose up the other storeys.
The inquiry was yesterday shown a montage of videos filmed by witnesses.
It initially shows the fire in Flat 16, but within minutes, the flammable window frames and polyethylene cladding meant the flames had risen to the top of the building, as devastated bystanders looked on helplessly. The inquiry heard that gaps or holes in the frames around the kitchen window in Flat 16 allowed the fire to spread so quickly.
In clips filmed between 1.0 am and 1.26am, burning debris can be seen falling from the tower, and screaming could be heard. ‘I told you, I told you get out,’ one man is heard shouting. Six clips showing the side of the tower as it became engulfed with flames were shown side by side.
‘Oh, my god,’ one woman is heard saying as pieces of fiery debris rained down. Another could be heard crying as it became apparent the fire was out of control.
After the video was shown, inquiry chairman Sir Martin Moore-Bick said: ‘It is truly shocking – every time you see it, it strikes you in a very similar way, very strongly.’