The Grenfell fire, five years on (Pt 1): Stories from the tower
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 13 June 2022
⏱️ 37 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
When a fire broke out at Grenfell Tower in west London in 2017, it led to the deaths of 72 people – and a search for answers. Five years on, we revisit that night through the stories of three families who called the tower home.
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Guest: Martina Lees, Senior Property Writer, the Sunday Times.
Host: Manveen Rana.
Clips: Channel 4 News, ITV News, BBC News, Grenfell Tower Inquiry.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Tomorrow, it will be five years since a fire broke out in a small apartment on the fourth floor of a tower block in West London. |
| 0:15.0 | Five years since this moment. |
| 0:20.0 | Yeah, hello, hi. In the fire's flood extinguisher. |
| 0:24.0 | Are you fireware? |
| 0:26.0 | Of the flood's flood extinguisher. |
| 0:28.0 | The fire brigade are on their way. |
| 0:36.0 | Within minutes, flames were roaring up the outside of the building until it was completely engulfed. |
| 0:44.0 | 72 people were killed by that fire. |
| 0:48.0 | Many more were injured and an entire community was ripped apart. |
| 0:54.0 | For the families of Grenfell tower, the pain is still really fresh. |
| 0:59.0 | The fire didn't just cost them their home, it also cost them their family. |
| 1:05.0 | I know it's five years, but it doesn't feel like five years. |
| 1:08.0 | And it still feels surreal like it didn't happen. |
| 1:13.0 | Like I'm going to walk out and then I'll go down by Grenfell and it'll be there as it was. |
| 1:26.0 | The fire revealed a litany of mistakes in the system that had left an entire community of some of the most deprived people in London at risk of losing their lives. |
| 1:39.0 | You're listening to stories of our times from the times and the Sunday times. |
| 1:44.0 | I'm Manvin Rana. Today, the Grenfell fire, five years on. |
| 1:50.0 | Stories from the tower. |
| 1:53.0 | Before we begin, I should warn you, some of the details you're going to hear today are distressing. |
| 2:11.0 | Five years on, none of the horror of what happened that night has gone away. |
| 2:17.0 | Back then, in the early hours of June the 14th, 2017, for those who were still awake, people who were heading home or who were out with their friends, for those who first saw that there was a fire in the tower. |
| 2:33.0 | It was immediately obvious that a tragedy on an epic scale was unfolding. |
... |
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