THE Grenfell Tower fire victims who burned inside the building were dead or unconscious before flames reached them, an inquiry has found.
A harrowing report into the 2017 tragedy revealed further details on the victims’ cause of death.
The report found that all of the victims burned by the fire were dead or unconscious due to “inhalation of asphyxiant gases”, primarily carbon monoxide.
The disaster also claimed five other victims, including three who jumped from the tower, stillborn baby Logan Gomes, and 74-year-old Maria del Pilar Burton, who died in January 2018.
Chairman Sir Martin Moore-Bick said expert evidence suggested it was possible for residents to descend the tower’s stairs “without danger of collapse” by 1.49am.
After that it was still possible but “more hazardous due to the dense smoke and absence of visibility”.
The report said: “In light of Professor David Purser’s evidence, we think it likely that those who died in the tower after having left their flats inhaled most of the carbon monoxide that killed them while they were descending the stairs.
The report reveals:
“Those who did not survive the journey down the stairs had inhaled a significant amount of asphyxiant gases while in their flats and before entering the stairs.”
It added that the “key distinction” between those who survived and those who died is that “those who survived left before the fire spread to the outside of their flats or the rooms in which they were sheltering”.
It concluded that “all the deceased were comatose, and in most cases dead, before they were exposed to significant heat”.
“The severe burning of bodies was likely to have occurred in all cases sometime after death when the fire entered the flats and consumed the combustible contents,” the report added.
In one tragic story heard as part of the inquiry, Ahmed Elgwahry told of his mum and sister’s last moments.
In a heart-wrenching final phone call, that lasted from 2.33am until 4.27am, Ahmed tried to encourage his sister Mariem Elgwahry to flee as her coughing increased.
Ahmed said Mariem started to panic as the landing around the flat she was in started to fill with black smoke.
He then heard her mumbling and making a deep humming sound.
She was initially able to make banging sounds in response to requests from her brother but stopped responding soon after.
Ahmed then heard his mother say in Arabic, “I can’t breathe.”
Around ten minutes later he could hear the sound of glass windows breaking and the fire entering the flat.
It was also found the tragedy could have been stopped 26 years before the inferno.
Successive governments ignored warnings about the building’s flammable cladding for decades – with concerns about materials first emerging in 1991.
Sir Martin added: “The failings can be traced back over many years, and our efforts to get to the bottom of what went wrong and why accounts for the length of our report and the time it has taken us to produce it.
“We find that there was a failure on the part of the government and others to give proper consideration at an early stage to the dangers of using combustible materials in the walls of high-rise buildings.”
Bereaved loved ones of victims and survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire have said the inquiry’s final damning report shows they were “failed by calculated dishonesty and greed”.
Grenfell United, which represents some of the families, said Sir Martin Moore-Bick’s findings made it clear their lawyers were correct to tell the inquiry that corporate bodies, such as Kingspan, Celotex and Arconic, were “little better than crooks and killers”.
They criticised previous governments who they said “aided corporations, facilitating them to profit and dictate regulation” and called on some of the firms involved to be banned from government contracts.
Their statement also said that while the report is a “significant chapter” in the years since the fire, “justice has not been delivered” as they restated their call for police and prosecutors to “ensure that those who are truly responsible are held to account and brought to justice”.
After the final report was published, Grenfell United said: “Today marks the conclusion of a painful six years listening to the evidence of the deaths of 54 adults and 18 children, our loved ones, neighbours and friends.
“It is a significant chapter in the journey to truth, justice and change. But justice has not been delivered.
“The inquiry report reveals that whenever there’s a clash between corporate interest and public safety, governments have done everything they can to avoid their responsibilities to keep people safe. The system isn’t broken, it was built this way.
“It speaks to a lack of competence, understanding and a fundamental failure to perform the most basic of duties of care.”
The group’s statement said previous governments had created “voids” by outsourcing their duties to corporate bodies – who “filled the gaps with substandard and combustible materials”.
Their statement continued: “The recommendations published today are basic safety principles that should already exist, highlighting how the government’s roles, duties and obligations have been hollowed out by privatisation.
BY Harry Goodwin
Detectives will go through the Grenfell Inquiry report line by line as they have “one chance” to get their investigation right, a senior officer has said.
Those affected by the disaster face a wait of another year to 18 months from the report’s publication before they find out whether any criminal charges will be brought over the tragedy.
Police and prosecutors said in May that investigators will need until the end of 2025 to complete their inquiry, with final decisions on potential criminal charges by the end of 2026.
Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Cundy said on Wednesday: “Our police investigation is independent of the public inquiry.
“It operates under a different legal framework and so we cannot simply use the report’s findings as evidence to bring charges.
“To secure justice for those who died and all those affected by the fire we must examine the report, line by line, alongside the evidence from the criminal investigation.
“As I said previously, this will take us at least 12 to 18 months.
“This will lead to the strongest possible evidence being presented to the Crown Prosecution Service so they can make charging decisions.
“I can’t pretend to imagine the impact of such a long police investigation on the bereaved and survivors, but we have one chance to get our investigation right.
“We will be thorough and diligent in our investigation while moving as swiftly as possible. We owe that to those who died and all those affected by the tragedy.”
“Where voids were created as the government outsourced their duties, Kingspan, Celotex and Arconic filled the gaps with substandard and combustible materials.
“They were allowed to manipulate the testing regimes, fraudulently and knowingly marketing their products as safe.
“Sir Martin Moore-Bick has laid bare his mistrust in the building industry – no single publication like approved document B should subsequently be used as a means to regulate fire safety and to keep the public safe.
“The government knew this was no way to regulate. It was there to be exploited.
“Our lawyers told the inquiry that the corporate core participants – Arconic, Kingspan and Celotex – were little better than crooks and killers.
“The report makes clear that this statement is entirely true. We were failed in most cases by incompetence and in many cases by calculated dishonesty and greed.”
