Grenfell

17 Stories

PM to Grenfell Families: 'You Have Been Let Down So Badly'

Starmer speaks after yearslong inquiry report is released on 2017 London tower blaze that killed 72

(Newser) - A report on a yearslong $262.4 million public inquiry into the fatal 2017 blaze at the UK's Grenfell Tower has finally been released, and it's a "damning" one, pointing the finger at not a "single" cause, but at "a combination of dishonest companies, weak...

3 Billboards Driven Through London Demand Justice

'71 dead. And still no arrests? How come?'

(Newser) - Activists for victims of a deadly London high-rise fire have taken inspiration from an Oscar-nominated film to press for more action by police. Three mobile billboards were driven through the British capital Thursday on behalf of the Justice 4 Grenfell campaign, the AP reports. The group was set up after...

Grenfell Tower Panels May Clad US Hotel, NFL Stadium

The flammable panels have been implicated in fatal London fire

(Newser) - In promotional brochures, a US company boasted of the "stunning visual effect" its shimmering aluminum panels created in an NFL stadium, an Alaskan high school, and a luxury hotel in Baltimore. Those same panels—Reynobond composite material with a polyethylene core—also were used in the Grenfell Tower apartment...

She Was Trapped Amid the Grenfell Blaze—and Cyanide

BBC confirms one survivor suffered cyanide poisoning

(Newser) - Luana Gomes spent six days in a medically induced coma after being caught in London's Grenfell Tower fire . And while she survived, smoke inhalation wasn't all the 12-year-old was treated for. The BBC obtained her discharge record, which shows she suffered cyanide poisoning in the blaze—the first...

800 London Public Housing Units Evacuated for Safety

Residents told safety couldn't be guaranteed following Grenfell fire

(Newser) - Hundreds of residents living in five public housing buildings in the Camden borough of London were being evacuated Friday evening after firefighters couldn't guarantee their safety in the wake of the deadly Grenfell Tower disaster, the AP reports. According to the New York Times , police say cladding material used...

Police Find Cause of Grenfell Blaze
Police Find Cause
of Grenfell Blaze
Jun 23, 2017 7:54 AM CDT

Police Find Cause of Grenfell Blaze

It started in a fridge-freezer, say police

(Newser) - In an emotional phone call, Fadumo Ahmed told her mom she was stuck on the upper floors of Grenfell Tower as the deadly blaze raged. "I can't get out. Goodbye," the 32-year-old said, per the Telegraph . In the days that followed, Ahmed's friends put her photo...

Adele Surprises Grenfell Tower Firefighters

Comes out to fire station for 'cup of tea and a cuddle'

(Newser) - On Monday, Adele visited the site of last week's Grenfell Tower fire in London, which killed at least 79 people, and afterward took a trip to the Chelsea Fire Station to meet with some of the firefighters who worked the devastating scene. "Not everyday the wonderfully grounded and...

Police Release Images From Inside Grenfell Tower

As they announce death toll now stands at 79 in London blaze

(Newser) - London police said Monday that 79 people are now believed to have died in a devastating high-rise apartment building fire . Police Commander Stuart Cundy said the new figure includes both people who were confirmed dead and others who are missing and presumed dead. It's an increase from the previous...

Death Toll in London Tower Fire Has Risen

58 people now confirmed or presumed dead, but number likely to rise further

(Newser) - London police on Saturday raised to 58 the number of deaths either confirmed or presumed following the horrific inferno that turned the city's Grenfell Tower public housing block into a charred hulk, the AP reports. Public anger is mounting as residents and neighbors demand answers for how the blaze...

Man Jailed for Sharing Photos of Dead Body in London Fire

Omega Mwaikambo pleaded guilty

(Newser) - A UK man is behind bars for three months after posting pictures of a victim of London's Grenfell Tower fire on Facebook. Omega Mwaikambo, 43, lives in the area and was making tea for firefighters, per his lawyer, when he came across an unattended body in a body bag....

London Fire Was Comparable to a Cremation

And that could thwart efforts to ID the victims

(Newser) - The devastating fire that struck a high-rise tower in London may have been so powerful that it destroyed much of the DNA evidence needed to identify its victims. Metropolitan Police commander Stuart Cundy earlier said there is "a risk that, sadly, we may not be able to identify everybody,...

Fireproof Material on London Tower Would Have Cost $6.5K

Death toll stands at 30 but will certainly rise

(Newser) - Police officials days ago said they didn't expect any more survivors to emerge in the London high-rise blaze, and on Friday, things got more grim: There is "a risk that sadly we may not be able to identify everybody," Metropolitan Police Commander Stuart Cundy tells the BBC...

First Confirmed Victim in London Is a Syrian Refugee

23-year-old student Mohammad al-Haj Ali fled Syria in 2014

(Newser) - The first victim identified in the Grenfell Tower fire in London has a poignant back story: Mohammad al-Haj Ali is a 23-year-old refugee from Syria who fled the war-torn city of Daraa three years ago. According to the Telegraph , the civil engineering student at the University of West London was...

London Blaze Called 'Corporate Manslaughter'
London Blaze Called
'Corporate Manslaughter'
THE RUNDOWN
Jun 15, 2017 6:48 AM CDT

London Blaze Called 'Corporate Manslaughter'

Death toll could be in the hundreds, lawmaker warns

(Newser) - Anger in Britain is rising in the aftermath of the Grenfell Towers high-rise blaze. With 12 people confirmed dead, almost 80 hospitalized, and many more still unaccounted for after the devastating fire in the 24-floor apartment block, calls for justice have been left alongside messages for loved ones at a...

No More Survivors Expected in London Apartment Blaze

Death toll hits 12

(Newser) - The death toll has risen to 12 in the massive blaze at a high-rise apartment building in London Wednesday, and that number is expected to rise, the BBC reports. "Sadly, I don't anticipate there will be further survivors," said a police official, noting that people are still...

Deaths Confirmed in London High-Rise Blaze
Blog Eerily Predicted Deadly
London High-Rise Blaze
THE RUNDOWN
Jun 14, 2017 6:21 AM CDT

Blog Eerily Predicted Deadly London High-Rise Blaze

Residents had long warned about fire safety

(Newser) - Lives were definitely lost in the nightmarish blaze that engulfed a high-rise apartment building in London early Wednesday, authorities say. Six deaths have been confirmed and at least 50 other people are being treated in the hospital after the fire at the 24-story Grenfell Tower in west London. The death...

Massive Blaze Engulfs London High-Rise

Residents feared trapped in Grenfell Tower fire

(Newser) - A massive fire engulfed a 24-floor high-rise apartment building in west London early Wednesday. Police said a number of people were being treated for a range of injuries, but did not provide more specifics. London Mayor Sadiq Khan tweeted that a major incident had been declared, with 40 fire engines...

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