ZCZC
BFF-36
BRITAIN-FIRE-CRIME
Survivors voice outrage at delay in London blaze probe
LONDON, March 7, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire
disaster in which 71 people and an unborn child lost their lives voiced
outrage on Thursday after police said the criminal investigation would be
delayed for at least two years.
London’s Metropolitan Police said Wednesday it would wait before filing
any possible criminal charges until the completion of an ongoing public
inquiry into the blaze, which enveloped the block on June 14, 2017.
Many former residents at the site in the west of the British capital
blamed the fire’s rapid spread on cladding installed as part of a
refurbishment.
The police said it was unlikely to submit a file to prosecutors before
“the latter part of 2021”.
“I know this is longer than some might have anticipated,” Matt Bonner, the
officer in charge of the investigation, said in a statement.
Natasha Elcock, a tower resident who heads the Grenfell United survivors’
group, said: “We are living in a limbo with no individuals or organisations
being held accountable and it is so painful for all us who lost loved ones
and our homes that night.
“We wait month after month, our lives on hold, for some kind of justice
and progress. It is extremely frustrating and disheartening to now be told
this will be our way of life for years to come,” she said.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan told BBC radio: “It’s not surprising that the
police want to see where the evidence takes them, but it will be distressing
for many victims, many survivors”.
BSS/AFP/ARS/1647 hrs