The deaths of 72 people in the Grenfell Tower fire in London were the result of "dishonest" and “greedy” companies, decades of failure by successive governments, and incompetence and chronic lack of leadership by the fire service, a damning inquiry report has concluded.
The residential high-rise tower block in west London was engulfed by fire in June 2017. Highly-flammable cladding had been installed on the block in a recent renovation.
The report said that all deaths in the fire were "avoidable" and people living in Grenfell Tower were "badly failed" by those responsible for their safety.
The inquiry Chairman Sir Martin Moore-Bick said those involved bore different levels of responsibility, with failings in most cases attributable to “incompetence” while others were due to "dishonesty and greed”.
Manufacturers of the building’s unsafe cladding engaged in "systematic dishonesty", the Chairman said. He also accused them of misleading customers about their products’ safety.
The report found that the fire was preceded by "decades of failure" by the government" and the building industry to act on the known dangers of flammable materials on high-rise buildings.
It also identified a "chronic lack" of leadership at the London Fire Brigade and an "attitude of complacency”.
Sophie Raworth presents BBC News at Ten reporting by Tom Symonds and Lucy Manning.
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