TOP COP: ‘If criminal offences have taken place, we will bring people to justice...’
POLICE SAY DEATH TOLL NOW AT 58
THE police chief in charge of the Grenfell Tower fire probe has vowed to prosecute anyone found responsible for the blaze.
Met Police Commander Stuart Cundy made the pledge as he revealed 58 people are missing presumed dead in the disaster.
He promised to bring anyone blamed for the inferno “to justice”.
Mr Cundy said: “The investigation is a police investigation.
“We investigate criminal matters. The investigation will identify any criminal offence that has been committed. It will be wide ranging.
“It will go to establish the answers of what happened in the fire and how it spread, it will look at the building itself, it will look at the refurbishment as well.”
He added: “Our criminal investigation will identify any criminal offences that have been committed. Wherever we can, we will bring people to justice if there is evidence.”
It is claimed the blaze in west London was started by a faulty fridge on the 24storey block’s fourth floor.
Speculation has mounted that plastic cladding added during a 2016 renovation helped the flames race to the top of the building, killing scores of residents who were unable to escape down the single staircase.
Mr Cundy identified the fire’s first official victim as Syrian refugee Mohammed Alhajali, inset, 23, and he gave an update on the number of people feared dead or injured.
He said: “Sadly, at this time there are 58 people who we have been told were in the Grenfell Tower on the night that are missing, and therefore sadly, I have to assume that they are dead.” Mr Cundy said the figure included 30 already confirmed dead, with 16 of their bodies being held in a morgue.
But he warned the death toll may go higher if the remains of unaccounted tower visitors are later discovered.
And he appealed for anyone who did manage to escape to make themselves known. He also raised the prospect of the recovery operation lasting for months. He said he hoped it would be over in “weeks”, but added: “It may take longer.”
Other victims confirmed dead by friends and family include artist Khadija Saye, 24, and mum Zainab Dean, who was trapped in the tower with her two-year-old son Jeremiah.
Two Tube lines running alongside the building were partly closed yesterday amid safety fears.
All stops on the Hammersmith and City and Circle lines between Edgeware Road and Hammersmith stations were shut amid worries that debris from the charred building could fall on tracks. It was also revealed that thousands of schools, hospitals and other buildings may have to be checked for cladding similar to the type used at Grenfell Tower. At least five London councils are to carry out safety inspections at similar developments after the White City blaze.
And it has emerged that £553million of taxpayers’ money has been spent on hundreds of contracts to fit public buildings with cladding. More than 500 trusts, councils, schools, universities and hospitals have installed cladding in the last three years.
It was also suggested yesterday that a report into the blaze may not be made public for years. The London fire service said findings would not be published until an inquest is complete, which could take years.
A spokesman added: “The report will not be in the public domain until that inquest is complete. There is no time frame for when the inquest will be, but certainly not in the short term.”