3 months ago
20
UK PM Keir Starmer apologised on behalf of the British state to
Grenfell Tower fire
victims in light of the report that claimed 72 lives were lost due to "failings of the
government
".
"I want to start with an apology on behalf of the British state to each and every one of you, and indeed, to all of the families affected by this tragedy," he told parliament, responding to the publication of a public
inquiry
report into the blaze, according to news agency Reuters.
"It should never have happened. The country failed to discharge its most fundamental duty: to protect you and your loved ones, the people that we are here to serve, and I am deeply sorry," he added.
A public inquiry into the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire in London has primarily blamed the
disaster
on failings by the government, the
construction industry
, and companies involved in fitting the flammable
cladding
.
The Grenfell Tower blaze, which occurred on June 14, 2017, in a 23-storey social housing block in one of London's wealthiest areas, stands as the deadliest fire in a residential building in Britain since World War Two.
In its final 1,700-page report, the inquiry laid most of the responsibility on the companies involved in the building's maintenance and refurbishment and criticised local and national authorities, along with regulatory groups and specific firms, for dishonestly marketing combustible cladding as safe.
"The fire at Grenfell Tower was the culmination of decades of failure by central government and other bodies in positions of responsibility in the construction industry," stated the inquiry report.
Survivors and the families of those who died have long demanded justice and criminal charges for those responsible. British police have indicated that 58 people and 19 firms and organisations are under investigation.
An earlier report from the inquiry in 2019 revealed that the fire originated from an electrical fault in a refrigerator in a fourth-floor apartment. The flames spread uncontrollably due to the tower's exterior cladding, which had been added during a 2016 refurbishment.
As of July, official data for Britain showed that 3,280 buildings taller than 11 meters still had unsafe cladding, with remediation work yet to commence on more than two-thirds of these structures.
