Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
We work on our hands & knees with sieves.. so we pick up the smallest part of human body Survivors back at scene for vigil
Officer on search for victims of blaze
Thatcher, 46, said nothing in his 23 years’ service prepared him for the scale of the incident. The dad-of-two, based at Kensington police station, said: “I saw fire shoot out from the lower floors, go up the side to the roof.
“Even in the short time it took me to drive less than a mile the fire had escalated and spread to the top two floors. You had to take a few seconds just to think, ‘This is not normal’. It was like the building was melting.”
After officers had to be withdrawn from the burning building, desperate family members tried to help.
Insp Thatcher said: “Some people were getting through the cordon and they were getting to the fire engine and looking for equipment.
“They didn’t know what they were doing but had this overarching need to help because it’s their loved ones and I can absolutely understand that, but there was nothing they could do.”
Grenfell residents had been advised to “stay put” and wait to be rescued in the event of a blaze. But that advice was scrapped two hours into the disaster when fire chiefs realised the scale of the incident, the BBC claimed last night. Scotland Yard said the estimated death toll stood at 80, with 34 victims identified.
Inquests into 10 more deaths were opened yesterday. All were identified
ON GRENFELL PROBE
through DNA or dental records, the hearing in Westminster was told.
Abdul Aziz El-wahabi, 52, and wife Faouzia El-wahabi, 41, were both found on the 21st floor. The couple’s three children have yet to be declared dead. Mohammed Hanif, 26, and his brother Mohammed Hamid, 27, were found on the 17th floor, while Zainab Deen, 32, was found on the 14th floor. Remains of Fathia Ahmed, 71, Berkti Haftom, 29, Hamid Kani, 60, and Marco Gottardi, 27, were on the 23rd floor. The coroner also heard Steve Power, 63, was discovered on the 15th floor.
Meanwhile, Communities Secretary Sajid Javid said he still does not know how and why flammable cladding was used on so many tower blocks.
Panels from 224 buildings have now failed fire safety tests. The cladding at Grenfell has been blamed for the rapid spread of the blaze.
But Mr Javid said: “I don’t think we can say we have all the answers yet.
“Is it about the building regulations, is it about the enforcement of those building regulations?”