Inquiry into London's Grenfell fire to hear bereaved speak of lost loved ones

LONDON (Reuters) - People who lost family and friends in the Grenfell Tower fire, which killed 71 people in London last year, will pay tribute to their loved ones at the start of hearings at a public inquiry into the causes of the disaster.

Only a charred, gutted ruin remains of Grenfell Tower, a 24-storey social housing block in a deprived pocket of the rich west London borough of Kensington and Chelsea, since it was engulfed by flames in the middle of the night of June 14, 2017.

The public inquiry faces the daunting task of establishing the root causes of the fire from eye-witness accounts, videos and photos, expert evidence and the paper trail of the tower’s history since it was built in the 1970s.

But before it delves into the details of what happened, the inquiry wants to give those bereaved by the disaster an opportunity to pay tribute to those they lost by talking about them publicly, or by showing photos or videos if they wish.

These commemoration hearings are expected to last nine days, although the schedule is uncertain as the inquiry has set no time limit for the tributes. They are expected to last between two minutes and over an hour.

The oral hearings into the circumstances of the fire will start later, on June 4.

The first commemoration will be of baby Logan Gomes, who was stillborn in hospital shortly after his heavily pregnant mother Andreia, who lived on the 21st floor, escaped from the fire. Andreia survived after she was put in an induced coma and treated for cyanide poisoning.

While the official death toll from the fire is 71, the inquiry will commemorate 72 people as it is including Maria del Pilar Burton, a resident of the tower who died in January, having never left hospital since she escaped from the fire.

The Grenfell Tower fire shocked Britain and led to an outpouring of angst over whether poor quality social housing and neglect by the authorities of a deprived, ethnically diverse community had played a part in the tragedy.

Separately from the public inquiry, the police are conducting an investigation into the fire which could result in criminal charges against organisations involved in the construction, maintenance or refurbishment of the tower, or against individuals.

Reporting by Estelle Shirbon; editing by Guy Faulconbridge