Search for Thai family after London tower block inferno

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Search for Thai family after London tower block inferno
By THE NATION

 

 

THE THAI EMBASSY in London is attempting to contact a Thai family who were living in the fire-ravaged Grenfell Tower block in west London.

 

While the death toll is still rising, authorities confirmed yesterday that 17 people had been confirmed dead in the inferno while saying that “sadly the number will increase” as they no longer expected to find anyone alive in the unstable, burned-out high rise. Dozens of residents were reported missing.

 

The fire broke out at the 24-storey public housing tower block in a working-class area of the capital on Wednesday.

 

The tower was home to about 600 people, including at least three Thai families, according to Thai officials and other Thais in London. 

 

The Thai Embassy managed to contact two of the families but was still trying to contact the third, according to the Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson Busadee Santipitaks. The total number of Thais in the tower was unclear.     

 

Waewta Suparerksanon, 62, told the BBC Thai service that she and four other members of her family escaped from the inferno at about 4am local time. She said she had lived on the 10th floor of the building for 31 years.

 

Waewta said she was watching television at around 1am when she heard about the fire. 

 

Her younger sister phoned the emergency services number and was told to remain in the flat. “Luckily we didn’t believe [the phone operator] and got out quickly,” Waewta said, noting that it took a while for rescuers to reach them. Firefighters guided residents out via a fire escape.

 

The embassy yesterday encouraged Thai citizens in London to stay away from the scene and monitor updates issued by local authorities. Anyone in need of assistance or urgent information can call the embassy at 079 1865 1720.

 

Metropolitan Police commander Stuart Cundy said in a televised statement yesterday: “Sadly I can confirm that the number of people that has died is now 17.

 

“We do believe that the number will sadly increase,” he said.

 

London Fire Brigade chief Dany Cotton said firefighters were not able to access all the apartments in the tower because of structural safety concerns. She said they had only managed to search about half of the building “in detail”.

 

She also said sniffer dogs were being used to locate bodies. “I anticipate London Fire Brigade will be on scene here for many days to come,” she said. 

 

“Tragically now we are not expecting to find anyone else alive.”

 

Built in 1974, an 8.7-million-pound (Bt377-million) refurbishment of the tower was completed last year and included new windows and a heating system. There has been speculation that the refurbishment might have been linked to the fire. 

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/national/30318197

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-06-16

[steven100]

Really sad .....  I hope they are located and found safe very soon.

 

 

[Mickmouse1]

The fire broke out at the 24-storey public housing tower block in a working-class area of the capital .

 

WOW!!!!!!

THAI CULTURE DOMINATING THE SCRIPT ?

[Mickmouse1]

The Thai Embassy gave wrong information the day before yesterday now is giving another uncertain information. ?

[Stargeezr]

If this building did not have a good sprinkler system, and adequate fire escapes besides the one

stair case, the owners should be held accountable and fined the maximum.  The emergency services

telling the people to remain in their flats, should also be sued for misinformation, and a bad practice

especially for this kind of building.  Shame on everyone who could have made this building safer for

the renters but did not.

Geezer

[soalbundy]

1 hour ago, Mickmouse1 said:

The fire broke out at the 24-storey public housing tower block in a working-class area of the capital .

 

WOW!!!!!!

THAI CULTURE DOMINATING THE SCRIPT ?

What is wrong with saying how it is, it was hardly a high class area

[Enoon]

11 hours ago, Mickmouse1 said:

The fire broke out at the 24-storey public housing tower block in a working-class area of the capital .

 

WOW!!!!!!

THAI CULTURE DOMINATING THE SCRIPT ?

 

Grenfell Tower is the high-rise component of a large social housing complex: Lancaster West redevelopment project .

 

It is a Council Estate.

 

Something like what I believe the Americans call a "Project".

 

"Along with other inner-city schemes, it soon became known for anti-social behaviour and crime.^[6] Indeed, by the mid-1980s, it was perceived as one of the most dangerous parts of Notting Hill at Carnival time."

 

Although it is surrounded by fairly affluent areas it is predominately working class.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 16, 2017 by Enoon

[sotsira]

On 6/16/2017 at 10:38 AM, Stargrazer9889 said:

If this building did not have a good sprinkler system, and adequate fire escapes besides the one

stair case, the owners should be held accountable and fined the maximum.  The emergency services

telling the people to remain in their flats, should also be sued for misinformation, and a bad practice

especially for this kind of building.  Shame on everyone who could have made this building safer for

the renters but did not.

Geezer

It's unlikely that this building even had a sprinkler system.

It's not regulation for high rise residential buildings, but it is for hotels.

 

The emergency service advises to remain inside your flat due to being exposed 

to smoke inhalation and suffocating while trying to escape a fire in such buildings.

 

The fire in this building was unprecedented due to the speed at which it spread,

the majority of flat fires are contained within one flat or only neighbouring units.

That's why a public inquiry has been issued to ascertain the reason for the fast 

spreading of this fire being so unusual. 

Edited June 17, 2017 by sotsira

[Stargeezr]

I have heard that the new cladding was not even fire resistant. This  renovation was a fix it up to

look pretty, sort of deal because of the rich people living close to this place. The owners should

get a big law suit from the people who were renting in the building. If this is a government

owned structure, then shame on the government.  If not having a sprinkler system is still allowed

in GB  then shame on the lax rules in that country

Geezer