British PM orders probe as toll reaches 17

London, June 16
The death toll in the devastating fire that engulfed the 24-storey residential block in London rose to 17 today, with Prime Minister Theresa May ordering a full public inquiry “to know what happened” as she came under pressure how the blaze spread so rapidly.
“We need to know what happened, we need to know an explanation. We owe that to the families, to the people who have lost loved ones and the homes in which they lived. That is why I am ordering a full public inquiry so that we can get to the answers, we can find out exactly what happened,” May said as she visited the site.
Meanwhile, a 23-year-old Syrian student, who had fled his war-torn country and arrived in the UK three years ago, was today named as the first victim of the inferno. Mohammed al-Haj Ali, a civil engineering student at West London University, was separated from his older brother Omar on the stairs as they tried to escape the devastating fire. Ali was following Omar but let go of his hand after becoming overwhelmed by the smoke. He returned alone to their flat on the 14th floor, where he was trapped for two hours.
London Fire Brigade fire fighters worked through the night to try and account for whole families that are still missing in the huge fire at the Grenfell Tower on the Lancaster West Estate in Latimer Road. About 600 people were believed to have been inside the tower’s 120 flats, when the blaze ripped through the building.
Many people were still unaccounted for with police saying there was little chance of finding any more survivors from the smoldering building.
The police confirmed 17 deaths among the 600 residents thought to have lived in the tower but expect that toll to rise significantly as the building is searched.
Scotland Yard said the death toll of 17 is expected to rise further as the emergency services have lost hope of rescuing any more people alive from the building.
Nearly 78 people were injured, and 34 remain in hospitals across London — 18 of them in critical condition.
London fire commissioner Dany Cotton said it was not safe for fire crews to go all the way out to the edges of the building.