Analysis Fire fallout: London inferno survivors and campaigners say safety concerns ignored

Campaigners for residents of the London tower block that went up in a giant blaze spoke angrily about long-standing fire safety concerns, saying they were ignored because the community was not rich

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Forensic teams move a body near the scene of the fire. Photo: AP

Published: 11:00pm, 14 Jun 2017Updated: 1:11am, 15 Jun 2017

As firefighters were still searching for survivors of Wednesday’s devastating high-rise fire in the west of London, there were immediate questions about whether the multi-fatality incident could have been prevented if simple safety measures had been in place.

Many survivors said they did not hear alarms, but were instead woken up by neighbours. Sajad Jamalvatan, a 22-year-old biomedical engineering student, said that “there are plenty of alarms in the building, but no alarm went off.”

Others offered slightly different accounts, saying that alarms were triggered in some individual units, but that others were not warned either because of the lack or failure of an integrated alarm system.

The fire that engulfed the 24-storey Grenfell Tower block of apartments in the north Kensington area killed at least 12 people and injured 78 others in an inferno that trapped residents as they slept.

More than 200 firefighters, backed up by 40 fire engines, fought for hours to try to bring the blaze, one of the biggest seen in central London in memory, under control.

Police Commander Stuart Cundy said a “recovery operation” could take some time and there could be people in the building who are unaccounted for, though he would not be drawn on a figure.