Public inquiry opens into London’s Grenfell Tower fire

A former judge opened a public inquiry on Thursday into London’s devastating Grenfell Tower fire, where at least 80 people died, with a pledge to “provide answers to the pressing questions” on the disaster.
Martin Moore-Bick, a former appeal court judge appointed by Prime Minister, Theresa May, to lead the inquiry, said the fire in June was “a tragedy unprecedented in modern times”.
He said: “We are also conscious that many have lost everything and even now are dependent on others for many of their daily needs,” Moore-Bick said before a one-minute silence for the victims.
“The inquiry cannot undo any of that, but it can and will provide answers to the pressing questions of how a disaster of this kind could occur in 21st century London and thereby, I hope, provide a small measure of solace.”
Moore-Bick said he hopes to produce an initial report to May by April.
The deadly blaze spread rapidly on the outside of the 24-storey social housing block, where residents had expressed safety fears over several years about the use of potentially combustible external cladding.
The inquiry will examine “the immediate cause or causes of the fire and the means by which it spread,” as well as the responses of national and local authorities and firefighters to the fire.
London’s Metropolitan Police have formally identified 57 people, who died in the fire, but cautioned that investigating officers would need “many months” before they can provide an accurate death toll.