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Investigation into the Grenfell Tower fire

Detective Chief Superintendent Fiona McCormack who is overseeing the investigation into the fire at Grenfell Tower said: "We are now over a week into our investigation following the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower. "I can confirm that as we continue to work to clarify the numbers of people missing and presumed dead, the number has not risen since the start of the week. "However, I do expect the number to change for a number of reasons that we have already explained. "The number of people who have been confirmed as dead, and formally identified is now nine. "I know that there has been concern and fear that those figures are a lot higher. "We want to identify all those who died as result of the fire at Grenfell Tower and that is where I need the public's help. "I do not want there to be any hidden victims of this tragedy. "We have been able to focus our efforts all through last weekend and this week to get much greater clarity on those who sadly died and those are still missing who I must now presume are dead. "That work has been focused on those people we have been told about - those people who were in Grenfell Tower that night or, who we have been told, have connections to Grenfell Tower. "I remain really concerned though that we do not have a complete picture. "There may well be people who no one has contacted us about - who they know were in the building or have close links to Grenfell Tower. "Through our family liaison officers and local community networks we have been making clear that our priority is to understand who was in Grenfell Tower. "We are not interested in people's reasons for not telling us sooner and as the Mayor has already said people should be not be nervous about contacting us. "The Home Office has assured us that they are not interested in people's immigration status and we are not interested in looking at that. "What we are interested in is that making sure we know who is missing and we take every possible step to establish if they are safe and well. "We will do all we can to help people through the coming weeks and months. "If you are concerned about someone please, I urge you, call our investigation team on our free phone incident room number 0800 032 4539. "The Met has drawn together a huge team in response to this incident and since the weekend around 250 specialist investigators have been working hard on all aspects of this investigation and our response. "We now have expert evidence that the fire was not started deliberately - the fire started in a fridge freezer - the make and model is a Hotpoint FF175BP. "We are working with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy who are talking to the manufacturer of the fridge freezer. "But we do know that that this model has not been subject to any product recall. "Further testing on the fridge freezer is being carried out by the manufacturer. "Our investigation is seeking to establish how the fire started and the speed that it spread as it took hold of the building. "We have been told the speed it spread at was unexpected, so importantly we will establish why this happened. "This investigation will be exhaustive and, as we learn more, the scope and scale may well grow. "We will examine the construction of the building including the refurbishment. "Whilst of course we are examining, with experts, the aluminium panelling we are also looking at the entire exterior of the building. "What that means is the aluminium composite tiles, the insulation behind it, how the tiles were fixed to the building as well as how it was installed. "Our tests will look at each aspect individually as well as how they how all worked together as part of the building's cladding. "Preliminary tests show the insulation samples collected from Grenfell Tower combusted soon after the test started. "The initial tests on equivalent aluminium composite tiles failed the safety tests. "Such are the safety concerns with the outcome of these tests we have immediately shared the data with the Department for Communities and Local Government who are already sharing that information with local councils throughout the country. "The shocking images from that night clearly show just how quickly and ferociously the fire spread across the external surface of the building. "As an absolute priority - and I completely understand the high public concern about safety - we will share any concerns about public safety with the relevant agencies. "We will identify and investigate any criminal offence and, of course, given the deaths of so many people we are considering manslaughter, as well as criminal offences and breaches of legislation and regulations. "We will seek to understand what happened to each and every person who died in that fire. "Today I am appealing to those people for whom Grenfell Tower was their home or to anyone who has previously lived there. "If you have previously reported concerns or safety issues about the building then please get in touch with us - we want to hear from you and what you reported. "Importantly, if you did have concerns but did not, for whatever reason, raise them before please tell us now. "The Crown Prosecution Service is advising the police investigation and their expertise will be used at every stage of our investigation. "So far we have seized CCTV and received over 70 images and moving footage following our appeal - thank you - if there are people who still have images please let us know. "We have also listened to over 600 emergency 999 calls made to the fire brigade, ambulance service and police to understand the events of that night. "Some of those calls are over an hour long and each call tells its own distressing story. "We have started to take statements from those who were within Grenfell Tower that night and that work will continue. "In terms of seizing relevant material from a number of organisations - I can confirm that that work is already underway. "I want to be as transparent as I can but I must protect the integrity of the investigation because, if we find that there are individuals or organisations that have committed offences, we must be able to prosecute without prejudice to any proceedings. "I will not speculate on our investigation and would urge others not to. "Our search of Grenfell Tower to recover all those inside and return them to their loved ones continues. "Specially trained disaster victim identification teams, supported by our new urban search and rescue trained dog teams, continue their work. "The working conditions are difficult and distressing for those teams - I have spoken to them personally and understand their commitment to returning those inside the Grenfell Tower back to their families and loved ones. "However, we have been through Grenfell Tower from top to bottom - a full visual search was completed last week. "The painstaking search continues - we will use a number of different searching techniques - including a full fingertip search in the areas of the building where we need to. "Next week we will be installing a lift to the outside of the building to assist the recovery process. "Such is the devastation inside, our forensic search and recovery may not be complete by the end of the year. "There is a terrible reality that we may not find or indentify all those who died due to the intense heat of the fire. "But we will do absolutely everything we can with utmost sensitivity and dignity. "Given the catastrophic damage caused to the building we have to do work to ensure the building is safe for all agencies to work in. "It is impossible to learn about what happened that night without feeling the true tragedy and the human cost of this terrible, terrible incident "What we are determined to do is fully and impartially go where the evidence takes us. "We want to provide the best possible answers for all those who have been so deeply affected by this tragedy."

Posted by Metropolitan Police Service on Friday, June 23, 2017