Banned building materials suspected in London fire
‘Urgent inspection’ for about 2,500 similar sites
LONDON — The new exterior cladding used in a renovation on London’s Grenfell Tower may have been banned under U.K. building regulations, two British ministers said Sunday as police continued their criminal investigation into the inferno that killed at least 58 people.
Trade Minister Greg Hands said the government is carrying out an “urgent inspection” of the roughly 2,500 similar tower blocks across Britain to assess their safety.
Experts believe the exterior cladding, which contained insulation, helped spread the flames quickly up the outside of the public housing tower early Wednesday morning. Some said they had never seen a building fire advance so quickly. The 24-story tower that once housed up to 600 people in 120 apartments is now a charred ruin.
Hands and Treasury chief Philip Hammond said in separate TV appearances that the cladding used on Grenfell seems to be prohibited by British regulations. Hands cautioned that officials don’t yet have exact details about the renovation that ended just last year.
“My understanding is that the cladding that was reported wasn’t in accordance with U.K. building regulations,” Hands told Sky News. “We need to find out precisely what cladding was used and how it was attached.”
Aluminum cladding with insulation sandwiched between two panels has been blamed for helping to spread flames in major fires in many parts of the world, including blazes in the Middle East, Europe, Asia and the United States.
Labour Party lawmaker David Lammy demanded that the government and police immediately seize all documents relating to Grenfell’s renovation to prevent the destruction of evidence that could show criminal wrongdoing.
He said all records — including emails, minutes of meetings, correspondence with contractors, safety assessments, specifications and reports — must be kept intact.
He complained bitterly that a friend — the young artist Khadija Saye — was still alive three hours after the fire started but was unable to get out of her apartment to safety.
Police Commander Stuart Cundy says police will seek criminal prosecutions if the evidence warrants. He has not provided details about the inquiry.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said Sunday after attending a church service several blocks from the tower that the fatal blaze was entirely preventable.
He said displaced residents are “angry not simply at the poor response in the days afterward from the council and the government, but the years of neglect from the council and successive governments.”
They feel they have been ignored because they are poor, he said.
Frustration has been mounting in recent days as information about those still missing in the blaze has been scanty and efforts to find temporary housing for the hundreds of now-homeless tower residents have faltered.
British health authorities will provide long-term bereavement counselling for those who lost loved ones in the tragedy.
Police and fire experts have said the fire was so intense that the process of identifying human remains will take weeks, if not months — and some victims may never be found.