London fire: Theresa May orders public inquiry into blaze

Theresa May has ordered a public inquiry into the fire at a block of flats in west London on Wednesday morning which has killed at least 17 people, with many more still unaccounted for.

Following a brief, private visit to the scene, the prime minister said residents of Grenfell Tower deserve answers about how the fire spread so rapidly through the building.

“We need to know what happened. We need to have an explanation of this. We owe that to the families, to the people who have lost loved ones, friends and their homes in which they lived,” she said.

“And it became clear to me this morning that that was necessary because when I visited the scene and I spoke to the emergency services they told me that this fire, the way this fire progressed how it took hold of this building was rapid, it was ferocious and it was unexpected.”

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Seventeen people were still in a critical condition in hospital on Thursday and dozens believed to have been in the building when the fire broke out are still missing or unaccounted for.

Fatalities to rise

London police commander Stuart Cundy told reporters that the number of fatalities was expected to rise and firefighters, who rescued 65, have said they did not expect to find any more survivors.

He said six of the 17 dead had been found outside the tower in west London. Another 11 bodies were inside the charred remains of the building. Police have identified six of the victims so far.

Asked if the final figure would be in double or triple digits, Mr Cundy said: “I’d like to hope that it isn’t going to be triple figures.”

London fire commissioner Dany Cotton said that firefighters had done a brief search of all 24 floors but were not yet able to make a thorough search of the tower block.

“Our specialist urban search and rescue crews are currently working to make the block safe so our firefighters can continue to progress throughout the building, making a detailed, fingertip search for anyone who may still be inside,” she said.

“This will be a slow and painstaking process which will require a large amount of shoring-up work inside the building, especially on the upper floors, which will be the most challenging for us to access and search. I want to be realistic – we are likely to have crews working at the scene for many days to come.”

Rising outrage

The search and rescue operation continued amid rising outrage over reports that the company which managed the block for the local Conservative-run council had ignored warnings from residents about the building’s safety.

There were complaints too about the council’s failure to co-ordinate support for victims and other residents of Grenfell Tower since the fire.

As the council moved some displaced residents into hotels, churches, mosques and synagogues were overwhelmed with donations of food, water and clothing. Some volunteers reported that homeless and hungry people from other parts of London were arriving in the hope of receiving food and other necessities.

Minister of state for policing and the fire service Nick Hurd told MPs on Thursday that every resident of Grenfell Tower would be rehoused locally. Describing the fire as a "national tragedy" he spoke of his shock when he visited the scene and witnessed the extent of the destruction.

“If you’ve stood at the bottom of that building and looked up, nothing you’ve seen on the TV can prepare you for what you feel when you look up at that devastation and the sense that you feel of the terror that must’ve been felt during that night, and the quite extraordinary, protocol-breaking bravery of firefighters who went in there,” he said.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn visited the scene shortly after the prime minister, spending half an hour at one of the centres co-ordinating the community response.

“There is desperate stress and sadness. There are still bodies to find in that dreadful building. We will demand and get answers,” he said.