Grenfell Tower fire survivors given more time to build case for inquiry

Inferno: Grenfell Tower
Jeremy Selwyn
Chloe Chaplain11 July 2017

Residents who survived the Grenfell Tower blaze have been given more time to make their case for the forthcoming inquiry following concerns it would not be in-depth enough.

The consultation period on the probe's terms of reference will be extended by two weeks until July 28, a spokesman for the inquiry confirmed.

It had previously been hoped the scope of the investigation would be determined before the parliamentary recess on July 20.

But those touched by the tragedy have expressed concern that the inquiry, led by retired judge Sir Martin Moore-Bick, would not be broad enough.

Judge: Sir Martin Moore-Bick has been chosen to lead the Grenfell Tower inquiry
AFP/Getty Images

An inquiry spokesman said: "Since the announcement of Sir Martin Moore-Bick as chair of the Grenfell Tower Public Inquiry, he and his team have held discussions with many interested parties, in particular survivors of the fire and other residents of the Lancaster West estate.

"It has become clear from these that there is a broad consensus that those affected need more than the one week originally envisaged for the Inquiry's consultation on its terms of reference.

"We are therefore extending the consultation period until 28 July, an extension of two weeks.

"We believe this strikes the right balance between providing enough time for people to respond meaningfully and ensuring the Inquiry's work, which cannot begin without terms of reference, can progress quickly."

Victim: One of the victims who died as a result of the fire has been formally identified as Berkti Haftom, aged 29

The announcement came as police formally identified another victim of the blaze - 29-year-old Berkti Haftom.

In a statement, her family said: "Berkti was a generous, caring, loving mother, partner, sister, aunty and friend and she will be missed by us all forever."

As the search for victims continues, London’s fire chief defended the advice given to residents to “stay put” in a blaze.

The London Fire Commissioner Dany Cotton insisted it was the right way to act in most cases.

She said: "Stay put advice for the vast majority of people living in high rise buildings is absolutely the best advice.

“If we evacuated every tower block every time there was a small fire, the firefighters would never get in to put the fire out because the staircases aren't designed to have hundreds of people coming down.

Fire: Dany Cotton
Sky News

"If you have hundreds of people coming down, opening and closing doors, it can actually help fire or smoke spread throughout the building.

"What I can say very early on is that people were reporting smoke in the communal parts of the building. That is not how a building normally behaves in fire."

Ms Cotton told Channel 4 News that only a miracle would have stopped the inferno raging through the tower block.

Inside Grenfell Tower

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Dany Cotton said that firefighters has done "the very best" they could on the night and many are suffering following the horrors they witnessed while tackling the blaze.

She said the brigade did have "sufficient resources" at the scene and nothing else would have particularly helped in tackling the blaze.

Asked what would have made a difference, she told Channel 4 News: "A miracle. I genuinely don't think anything available to us as firefighters anywhere in the world would particularly have made a difference. We do need to look at it as part of the inquiry.

"People have come out with all different kinds of suggestions and there's all sorts of experts around. I think people need to let the inquiry play out.

“But from everything I've seen from a professional firefighter, I believe we did the very best we could on that night."

Ms Cotton said it was "inevitable" that every organisation involved with be "subject to some form of criticism" but insisted she would "defend the actions of my firefighters on the night".

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