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| Grenfell Tower fire: police consider manslaughter charges | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Police have said they are considering manslaughter charges in relation to the deadly Grenfell Tower blaze as they revealed that both the insulation and tiles at the building failed safety tests. | Police have said they are considering manslaughter charges in relation to the deadly Grenfell Tower blaze as they revealed that both the insulation and tiles at the building failed safety tests. |
| Det Supt Fiona McCormack, who is overseeing the investigation, said on Friday that officers had established that the initial cause of the fire was a fridge-freezer and that it was not started deliberately. | Det Supt Fiona McCormack, who is overseeing the investigation, said on Friday that officers had established that the initial cause of the fire was a fridge-freezer and that it was not started deliberately. |
| She said they were trying to get to the bottom of why the fire started so quickly. Insulation recovered from Grenfell Tower has been tested, while the tiles tested were the same as those in the building. Both failed the safety tests, with the insulation proving “more flammable than the cladding”. Investigators will now seek to establish whether the use of these materials was illegal. | She said they were trying to get to the bottom of why the fire started so quickly. Insulation recovered from Grenfell Tower has been tested, while the tiles tested were the same as those in the building. Both failed the safety tests, with the insulation proving “more flammable than the cladding”. Investigators will now seek to establish whether the use of these materials was illegal. |
| McCormack said: “Preliminary tests show the insulation samples collected from Grenfell Tower combusted soon after the tests started. The initial tests on equivalent aluminium composite tiles failed [also].” She said police would investigate how the tiles were fixed to the building and their installation. | |
| The manufacturers of the fridge freezer, a Hotpoint FF175BP, have been contacted, McCormack said. The model has not been previously subject to a recall. | The manufacturers of the fridge freezer, a Hotpoint FF175BP, have been contacted, McCormack said. The model has not been previously subject to a recall. |
| Manslaughter charges are among a string of offences being considered by police as part of the investigation, McCormack said. | |
| Documents and materials had been seized from a “number of organisations”, she added. | |
| She said: “We are looking at every criminal offence from manslaughter onwards, we are looking at every health and safety and fire safety offence and we are reviewing every company at the moment involved in the building and refurbishment of Grenfell Tower.” | |
| Police said the official death toll had risen to nine but the number presumed dead remained 79. | |
| McCormack said every complete body had been recovered from the building, describing it as a “very, very distressing scene”. Theresa May has warned that the death toll could yet rise further. | McCormack said every complete body had been recovered from the building, describing it as a “very, very distressing scene”. Theresa May has warned that the death toll could yet rise further. |
| Describing how the investigation was proceeding, she added: “We have been in Grenfell Tower, from top to bottom, last week. | |
| “Next week we will be installing a lift to the outside of the building to assist. But our forensic search may not be complete until the end of the year.” | |
| Repeating concerns from the police commander Stuart Cundy about the scale of the task in identifying the victims, McCormack added: “There is a terrible reality that we may not find or identify everyone who died due to the intense heat.” | |
| Speaking in the Commons on Thursday, the prime minister refused to say whether the cladding used in the tower, which has been highlighted as a possible reason why the fire spread so quickly, was legal or not. | Speaking in the Commons on Thursday, the prime minister refused to say whether the cladding used in the tower, which has been highlighted as a possible reason why the fire spread so quickly, was legal or not. |
| Thousands of tower block residents around the UK have been warned that their homes are clad with the same flammable aluminium panels believed to have fuelled the blaze at Grenfell Tower. | Thousands of tower block residents around the UK have been warned that their homes are clad with the same flammable aluminium panels believed to have fuelled the blaze at Grenfell Tower. |
| About 600 towers across the UK have been clad, and some of these are likely to have flammable systems, the Department for Communities and Local Government has estimated. | About 600 towers across the UK have been clad, and some of these are likely to have flammable systems, the Department for Communities and Local Government has estimated. |
| Councils have been asked to conduct safety checks, sending building materials to Whitehall to be tested. | Councils have been asked to conduct safety checks, sending building materials to Whitehall to be tested. |
| May said the government would fund tests on up to 100 towers a day. | May said the government would fund tests on up to 100 towers a day. |