this is bbc news. the headlines at 8pm: the prime minister orders a full public inquiry into the fire that destroyed a residential tower block in west london. as the first victim of the fire is named by his family, mohammed alhajali, a 23—year—old syrian refugee, the death toll rises to 17. we need to know what happened, we need to have an explanation for this, we owe that to the families, to the people who have lost loved ones, friends and the homes in which they lived. theresa may made a private visit to the scene this morning to meet emergency services. the government says it will support the families whose homes were destroyed, with a promise to rehouse all those affected by the fire. we will be speaking to the four berth mayor london, ken livingstone. the faces of some of some of those

still unaccounted for, young and old, many of which were trapped on the upper floors of the building. jessica, she's still missing. going to be 13 next month. lovely little girl. bubbly personality. we just want her home. the local community have been leaving messages for loved ones as they try to come to terms with what happened. good evening and welcome to bbc news. a public inquiry has been ordered into the fire that devastated a residential block of flats in west london. 17 people are now known to have died. a senior police officer said the total would rise, but he hoped the number would not reach "triple figures". many residents are missing, with whole families unaccounted for. during the day, fire crews have been

searching the tower block, but they have warned it could take weeks to complete the work because the higherfloors need shoring up. our home editor mark easton has this report. slowly, inch by painstaking inch, fire officers continue their grim and dangerous work. amid the soot—blackened shell of what was once home to hundreds are some who did not make it out. exactly how many, we do not know, but the emergency services are warning the scale of this tragedy is yet to become clear. sadly i can confirm the number of people who have died is now 17. we do believe that number will sadly increase. there are 37 people receiving treatment, of which 17 are still in critical care. the agony of a wounded neighbourhood is written on a wall, the desperation of people searching for family and friends. prayers and solace from near and far. for the past two days,

jason garcia has been searching for his 12—year—old cousinjessica urbano. i feel helpless really. we are hoping that, by putting up posters, sharing her image on social media, and talking to people like yourself, that maybe someone with information will get in touch. syrian refugee mohammed alhajali, an engineering student seeking a better life in britain, was named by his family today as having died in the fire. people crave answers, but complain of delays and evasion. at the moment we are grieving, but there is a bubbling anger underneath and we want to see somebody held accountable for this. the love and generosity that has poured into north kensington in the last couple of days cannot make up for the numbing sense of loss. the prime minister made a private visit to the scene today, speaking to emergency workers before announcing there will be a full public inquiry into what went wrong.

when i spoke to the emergency services, they told me the way this fire progressed and how it took hold of the building was rapid, ferocious and unexpected. we have to get to the bottom of this. the truth has got to come out, and it will. the labour leaderjeremy corbyn also went to north kensington, insisting he would speak up for the community. shock and grief are being joined by outrage and anger. the questions are raining down, rather like the charred lumps of cladding, which locals are holding up as possible evidence that people were housed in a preventable death trap. this tower block fire looks just like north kensington. they came in and said, "get out, get out, evacuate now." but it was three years ago in melbourne, australia. and the similarities do not stop there. those of us who have been around for 30 years or more have never seen a fire develop in this way. in my 29 years in the london fire brigade, i have never seen

a fire of this nature, and i have seen many high—rise fires. we never expected to see a high—rise fire that would spread so quickly from the eighth floor to the 21st floor. in london, the fire raged from the ground to the 24th floor in less than half an hour. attention in australia focused on the building's aluminium cladding, an enquiry blaming cheaper plastic fibre backed cladding rather than mineral fibre backed. the same distinction is being made about grenfell tower, although the authorities insist building regulations were followed. london mayor sadiq khan was heckled by a small group of people on a visit to grenfell tower today. i don't want to hear his rubbish. feelings are running high. understandably, the residents are very angry and concerned and have genuine questions that demand answers and so whereas... someone needs to be held accountable. these deaths could have been prevented! the concerns are notjust

about what went wrong in north kensington, they are also about what could go wrong in thousands of tower blocks across britain. residents at trellick tower, who can see grenfell tower from their balconies, now have a constant and disturbing reminder of the risks of high—rise living. we can speak to the former mayor of london, ken livingstone. what has changed over the years, the way that tower blocks like this are managed and regulated 7 tower blocks like this are managed and regulated? things have been reduced, and we have seen that with posters for sale, some of the

smallest in europe. half say have said something is structurally wrong. but people elected to the local council, responsible for the construction and management. that has been taken away, they accountability has gone. i am delighted that we have got an enquiry but we do not have to wait for that to know what happened. everybody watching that fire saw what happened. it was the cladding, and that has been used on dozens if not hundreds of terror plots. we cannot wait for the enquiry. we should have every council looking at what you can do, before we see another horror like this. what does this come down to? money? political will? we were told that business

does better, if you reduce regulation. but what we have seen, virtually no council housing being built. the deregulation of the private sector rents, through the roof. spending more money, subsidising landlords ripping off te na nts, subsidising landlords ripping off tenants, than we used to spend on building 150,000 council houses. the last up to five years under margaret thatcher, tony blair and david cameron, it was fatal error of judgment, not building council houses, making sure people subject to oversight. notjust building, refurbishing? the simple fact, we need to know why there were not sprinklers, coming on automatically and people could not hear the spiral

arm. literally, it has been about cutting costs, spending less. that has an effect. if you want decent housing you have got to spend money. and the house fire in 2009 followed calls for it to be demolished. this suggestion, the belief that it was a place where fire could spread?m suggestion, the belief that it was a place where fire could spread? if i had still been mayor of london when that happened i would have been doing something about it. but when tony blair created the mayor of london system, it said the mayor of london system, it said the mayor of london is not going to have any powers on housing. i have managed to persuade the government to change that, the mayor got power, but i lost to boris. i persuaded gordon brown to give £5 million to build

council houses, borisjohnson just ignored that. and i think the current mayor of london should have the powers to oversee construction, give them power to make sure homes are safe, and those already built are safe, and those already built are safe, and those already built are safe too. but how adequate are those powers for mr khan?|j are safe too. but how adequate are those powers for mr khan? i suspect not. we used to have strong regulation, inspectors came and watched them being constructed and made sure that there were not shorcuts, people saving money by doing dodgy things. swept away. i think we are seeing the construction of very poor quality homes, not going to last as long as homes built 120 years ago, still standing

strong. what does the scope of this enquiry need to be? how quickly as it possible for this to start? these things can take ages to get off the ground? we have had horrendous delays in the public enquiries, just get it off the ground and do this quickly. i would also like to see city hall, the london assembly getting stuck into this. they have got their powers to summon. question people. i think they could do this faster than the prime minister's enquiry, the assembly members are a nswera ble to enquiry, the assembly members are answerable to the people who have voted. they would answer quickly, given the chance. ken livingstone, thank you. and we'll find out how this story, and many others, are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 11:30 this evening in the papers. 0ur guestsjoining me

tonight are the former trader minister, lord digbyjones, and the broadcaster and campaigner, henry bonsu. the first victim of the fire has been identified this evening, mohammed alhajali, was named by a charity as a syrian refugee. he was reportedly 23 and came to the uk in 2014. mohammed alhajali, was named by a charity as a syrian refugee. he was reportedly 23 and came to the uk in 2014. he was was studying for a degree in civil engineering. mohammed alhajali, was named by a charity as a syrian refugee. in the past hour his brother has spoken to the bbc about his own traumatic rescue and the call he made to his brother who was unable to escape the fire. you may find upsetting his description of that final telephone call between them... we did not know what to do. just calling friends, police. i could not imagine that only two people were just trying... for the fire. that

would not help. so... fire was close. then i... they came. and when the fire was in the next room, smoke was coming inside. pushing us. i could not see anything. the smoke was inside. pushing, pushing. all of us. was inside. pushing, pushing. all of us. eye could not talk, look around, i could not say anything. even my fingers. nothing. iwent i could not say anything. even my fingers. nothing. i went outside. i could not say anything. even my fingers. nothing. iwent outside. i thought i was going to die. buy did not have anything to breathe. i was breathing smoke, lots of smoke, from

the 14th floor. pushing me on stairs. me and children. pan african family as well. i was looking behind me, andi family as well. i was looking behind me, and i could not see my brother. where was he? they were ignoring, downstairs. i went outside, i called him, he said i am in the flat. i said why did you not come? he said nobody brought me outside. he said why have you left me? i said i didn't leave. i thought that they had taken him outside. they left him, they were scared. didn't help

us. him, they were scared. didn't help us. just two half of us. i told the fire fighter, please. i told us. just two half of us. i told the fire fighter, please. itold him he would be safe. but then, they said, my brother... they didn't help me. they could go by the stairs. they didn't. i told them, 100 times, if you do not, i will go. they pushed me away. and would not let me come back. i was speaking to my brother, he saidi back. i was speaking to my brother, he said i am dying. he said i turned what —— cannot breathe. he said i am dying. he said i turned what -- cannot breathe. that was the brother of mohammed alhajali, named

as the first victim. with me is mark harris, who is an outreach manager with the samaritans. incredibly distressing. there was what you have been doing. we have just been trying to help people, support people, trying to fit in, in the team, at the church. the volu nteers the team, at the church. the volunteers doing an amazing job, people have been displaced. trying to fit in as best we can. help the operation. and get emotional support, just trying to support people as best as we can. what are the do's and dont‘s? people as best as we can. what are the do's and dont's? you have just got to try to fit in. when we are

doing the regular outreach work, we will go to somebody, ask them how they are doing but we cannot do that in this case. people are shell—shocked. still trying to come to terms with what has happened. anger. you cannot ask somebody who they are doing. it is pointless. you are helping people, get them food, clothes. and if you can bring in conversation, we do that. but we realise this process is going to be long. how long? years, ithink. people have said my life has changed forever. dash mac. we can get them to co nta ct forever. dash mac. we can get them to contact us in the long—term, start conversations now, and we do not know when they are going to end.

what are the different reactions and emotions? it has evolved quickly. yesterday, it was shell—shocked. the centre opened in early. people had been sat in the church, staring, not eating, had not slept. not processing anything. it moved quickly. that anger come. also this morning, i thought it was calmer. but we were with families waiting for news. not a great deal that you can do. just be with them. this is going to continue to an fault. i do not know what role st clements will play. just try to get emotional support for them. you have also supported people from the

westminster attack, and the london branch attack. sudden, unexpected events, unexpected deaths often. do they have things in common, the way that people react? a fire? how different would the reaction be, compared to terrorism ? different would the reaction be, compared to terrorism? certainly, we we re compared to terrorism? certainly, we were at london bridge last friday talking to passengers, police, and we will be at borough market on saturday. we have got this sense of resilience and we are going to carry on. whenever we have these terror attacks, that is what we do. massive anxiety under that, we try to get people to talk about that, but with something like this fire you have got the sense that it should have been avoided. you get that, talking from local people. the resilience is

not there, the anger is. it is overwhelming grief. but if you go to st clements, the operation is phenomenal. people have said we literally cannot take any more, and people have been queueing down the street, to give. local people are just supporting each other so well. just giving anything. it is difficult for some people more than others, to talk. how important for you as the talking part of the support? it is absolutely crucial. and it is interesting, we had been trying to support each other in the centre, how are you, and a lot of professionals have said i am fine.

at some point, they are going to have to stop and say wow, an awful what has happened. just talk with a partner, loved one, friend. somebody. just start verbalising. you cannot carry these things in your mind. you need to talk about things, get perspective. that is what is helpful. thank goodness you are doing this. thank you and thank your team. people want to donate. the rugby portobello trust has been instrumental, but asking that no more contributions are made. thank you, but please do not bring any more donations. we have been swamped. that is on the rugby

portobello trust facebook page. that is where to look. the headlines on bbc news: the prime minister, theresa may, orders a full public inquiry into the fire that destroyed a residential tower block in west london. the first victim has been named as mohammed alhajali. the faces of some of some of those still unaccounted for, young and old, many of which were trapped on the upper floors of the building. sport now, and for a full round up let's cross to the bbc sport centre. jordan pickford has become the most expensive british goalkeeper. everton have bought him for £30 million from sunderland. despite the black cats relegation, pickford, who has signed a five year contract, was one of their stand out players and he earned a senior england call up last year. he's 23 but is currently on duty with the under 21s,

preparing for the european championships in poland. the only keepers to cost more than him are manchester city's new signing ederson and the italian great gigi buffon. india have reached the icc champions trophy final after thrashing bangladesh by nine wickets at edgbaston. the defending champions reached their target of 265 with ten overs to spare. they'll play pakistan in sunday's final at the oval. patrick gearey was at today's match. if you went on the enthusiasm of supporters, you would think every game they played was bangladesh's biggest yet. this probably was. it was one they were not supposed to reach. bangladesh came into this, as every game at the champions trophy, outsiders. but this competition has

been about confounding expectations. just ask the hosts. india asked bangladesh to bat. ikbal hit back. the batsmen makes them believe. with great power, great responsibility. a vacuum. bangladesh's score finished short. the target was 265. it takes more than that to worry india. , the best one—day batsmen in the world, kohli. and at the other end, more in this corporate than either of them, sharma with this injury. the captain past 8001—day runs on way to victory, setting up a potential classic. india against pakistan, it is always fatal, but this time, the

final. the us open golf is underway in wisconsin... rickie fowler scored a record—equalling seven—under—par 65 to top the leaderboard. that's the lowest first round score in this tournament since 1980. englishman tommy fleetwood had a great opening round too — two shots behind fowler he'sjoint second on round too — two shots behind fowler he's joint second on five under par. casey has just got an eagle on the first. you can go to the website, lee westwood also well placed. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more in the next hour. amidst the devastation — stories of extraordinary bravery are emerging.

more than 200 firefighters tackled this blaze yesterday,entering the building when it was still burning as they tried to help those who were trapped. and their work isn't over — they're now involved in the recovery operation . hero! this guy, look at that, hero! it's impossible to imagine how anyone would willingly run into this. but that's exactly what more than 200 firefighters did. the main thing with this building on the night was the speed the fire moved from the bottom up to top and thick black smoke that filled the air, that filled the building. there were real challenges for us. we have people, quite rightly trying to get out of the building, quickly, as we are trying to get in. have you ever seen a fire like it? i have never seen a fire of this scale in my whole career. i have seen lots of fires in the london fire brigade, but nothing on this scale. exhausted, having spent hours tackling a fire that has been described as unprecedented in its scale. and the work is far from over. now comes the tasks of making the building safe enough to allow a thorough search and recovery.

you have had a chance to speak to some of those involved, how are they doing if not physically, mentally? i have spoken to quite a few people, they are ok. the main thing is that they are tired, but they are so keen to ensure that we complete the job. they were on duty again — a lot of them were on duty again last night, some will be on duty again tonight, and they want to come back and assist. thankfully, only a handful of firefighters received minor injuries. the mental scars from what they saw and hear may take much longer to heal. people have coping mechanisms in all sorts of ways. the most obvious is the support of your colleagues who have been through similar experiences. clearly the scale of this and the sort of horrors that people have seen, that means they will need to be watched and need to be supported and that will need professional support. there is anger here, with many local people feeling let down by the authorities. but there is thanks, too,

for those willing to put their lives on the line to save others. heroes, heroes. i mean, they're heroes. they went in to try and save people. in that. they are heroes. an emergency number has been set up for anyone concerned for loved ones in the north kensington fire. the casualty bureau is 0800 0961233. time now for a look at the weather. good evening. it is a settled story across the united kingdom, heading to the weekend. 0vernight, it is going to be more comfortable for sleeping, drizzly for rain, and on

the breezy side. clear skies. quiet. bottle more importantly, the temperatures falling, 10—14. we start tomorrow morning, across england and wales, with some decent sunshine. fair weather cloud. and that breeze always getting some coastal drizzle. some brightness. 19, 20 degrees not out of the question. decent sunshine continuing. highs of 23. conditions, set fair, for the weekend. dry and sunny. hot for some. set fair, for the weekend. dry and sunny. hot forsome. potentially on sunday, temperatures could peak in the south east, 30. this is bbc news, the headlines: the prime minister has ordered a full public inquiry into the fire that destroyed a residential tower block in west london, saying people "deserve answers" as to why the fire spread so rapidly. so far the number of dead stands at

17. but that number could rise significantly as the full scale of the damage starts to become clear. the first victim has been named by his family. he has been studying for a degree. theresa may made a private visit to the scene this morning when she spoke with and members of the emergency services. “— she spoke with and members of the emergency services. —— she spoke with members of the emergency services. we need to know what happened, we need to have an explanation for this, we owe that to the families, to the people who have lost loved ones, friends and the homes in which they lived. the government says it is determined to do anything it can to help the victims and rehouse all of those affected by the fire. dozens of people still listed as missing as appeals continue to be made by families and friends for information about loved ones. how was the fire able to take hold

injust minutes? how was the fire able to take hold in just minutes? what about thousands of other high—rise residential buildings around the country? our science editor looks at what else could be done to improve safety in tower blocks. the london fire has triggered concern right across the country. in belfast, fire safety leaflets are being handed out by the housing authority. suddenly there's intense scrutiny at every detail of the arrangements to cope with the fire. and while there are questions about all tower blocks, the key focus is on ones that have been fitted with cladding. all day there's been pressure from safety experts for every council building to be made safer with sprinklers. people don't die in sprinkler buildings. a single death in a sprinkler building is a very, very extremely rare event anywhere in the world.

multiple death is almost unheard of. one of many tragic aspects of this tower block disaster is that for years experts have warned of the dangers of fire. back in 2013, a coroner called for sprinklers to be fitted to existing council tower blocks. a fire in south london had killed six people, but the recommendation wasn't followed and sprinklers are usually only installed in new buildings. next, having just one staircase — like in grenfell tower — has repeatedly been criticised as a hazard, limiting the chance for people to escape and for firefighters to get in. and there have long been concerns about cladding, the panels fitted outside the buildings. these are usually metal with a layer of insulating material. back in 1991, the rules about them were tightened, but regulations do not require that the panels should never burn. some critics say the current system of testing them doesn't go far enough. the cladding at lakanal house in south london was judged to have

intensified the blaze there eight years ago. an architect who gave evidence at the inquest of the six people who died there says promises of action led nowhere. he fears the same could happen again this time. what are politicians for? what are these inquiries for? when something like lakanal house happens, they are all eager to go on television saying "lessons will be learned, our thoughts are with the families" and so on, but then nothing happens. it may be that the horror at grenfell tower will bring real change but it will be a monumental task. and in the meantime the company that did the refurbishment work, rydon, says that it met all regulations and now welcomes the public inquiry. david shukman, bbc news. this is a chartered surveyor who

specialises in fire protection and has been investigating similarfire incidents. thank you forjoining us. you have anticipated event like this. yes, i have. basically all the signs were there from around the world. there have been fires in paris, in the middle east, and in 2014 there was a fire in melbourne, australia, this type of cladding. and they all have in common, do they? they do, they turn into flaming torches. 0ne they? they do, they turn into flaming torches. one of the buildings was actually called the torch. why has such a material been permissible? i have no idea. in 2014 and the bsi annual conference... what is that? the british standards institute, they set the standards for the country. i was speaking there about areas which are not

covered under the fire risk assessment. i provided pictures of the fire in paris. and with that i was able to show how quickly they spread. i said that this will happen in this country. there will be multiple fatalities because of these, basically candles waiting to be ignited on the side of the building. we understand, we've heard from a lot of experts say that the idea is with a multistorey block like this, each flat is supposed to contain the fire. clearly that hasn't happened. is the assumption that fire will be contained inside one part of it so the cladding has been overlooked? the outside cladding is completely overlooked. the firewalls elsewhere in the building are generally very good. the walls between flats, the walls

between the flat and the corridors, the floors and the ceilings between flats, they all meet the standards. but unfortunately the outside face does not meet the one on the standard. what is it about the windows that would give you concern? the old ones which were installed in buildings were generally fire safe. they were rigid steel or very firm would. they are being replaced with pvc you, plastic windows, which expand and bone. with aluminium windows, such as those at lakanal house, they are joined together with nylon to stop heat loss through the flame. nylon is molten at 200 celsius afterburn slight fury. —— 200 celsius, and it burns like fury. polyurethane expanding foam is

highly flammable. it is just waiting. even if the window is stood up, the fire would go around the edge of the frames, by the way they are installed. never happened in the past. you mentioned lakanal, the fire there 2009, how much investigation that was done after that fire has been put in place?|j that fire has been put in place?” would say they have been totally ignored. 0ther would say they have been totally ignored. other than getting people to do the fire risk assessments, which they should have done anyway. that was already part of the law. as for the recommendations, the fire sprinkling flats in multistorey buildings, that has been recommended time and time again in inquests. been ignored. why? i can't tell you. you'd have to ask the politicians and the people advising them. what should be happening to other

residential tower blocks, particularly residential ones, but all particularly residential ones, but a ll tower particularly residential ones, but all tower blocks around the country? not all tower blocks around the country because many haven't had the changes that have been brought in, which have lowered the standards on the old blocks. if you have a nice concrete panel below your window, or brickwork beneath your men —— beneath your window, don't worry. but if you have modern windows floor—to—ceiling height i would be very worried. i'd also be worried about cladding that has been put on buildings. installation that has been put on buildings which can be flammable. people are, even their own domestic homes are insulating them externally with expanded polystyrene. the company that makes this insulation material has said it will ban, this is the cladding, that was used to refurbish grenfell tower, if exposed to fire of sufficient heat and intensity. maybe

they don't mean for it to be used in this instance, do they? the board which is used is different to the polyurethane boards which ban freely. the other ones burn slowly. but will give off toxic fumes. but don't actually add to the fire load. in this particular building the fire load came entirely from the external cladding, which was two sheets of aluminium with polyethylene between. and if you can think of the polyethylene as a candle which melts ata polyethylene as a candle which melts at a slightly higher temperature of 120 degrees, it is soon dropping material and it is a petrochemical. basically you have solid fuel on the side of the building, which burns downwards, upwards, separated by two sheet of aluminium. and the fire

brigade cannot get water on the fire because they cannot get through the aluminium. you can understand why the fire brigade has said they've never seen the fire brigade has said they've never seen anything like it, then? yes, it's the first time it has happened in this country. but people like myself, and many fire officers, are fully aware of the fires in other countries. thank you very much for joining other countries. thank you very much forjoining us. thank you. the prime minister has announced an independent enquiry into the fire. and sadiq khan and labour leader jeremy corbyn have both visited the site of the incident. local people have been afraid about having the politicians about their anger about what happened at grenfell tower. they have been saying that the living conditions for the poor are not good enough. 0ur correspondent reports.

i have seen that one. maybe it can happen. who knows? nobody knows. i'm now worried about my kids. since they have seen this one, they think it will be here. they said they want to move. the family have friends who are missing. this one? they live in that building. these two are in hospital. they did not find. they did not find these three, but they found these two. like others they followed appeals online. like other families, these children have friends who may be affected. one of my friends, she is now in hospital, she burnt a hole hand. she is the same age. she goes to my school. —— she burnt her whole hand. they are

looking for her family. her family are missing? yes, her dad, her little brother, and her mother, they found her big brother, he is also in hospital. i have known her my whole life. the family also feel let down by the authorities over the state of their housing. the fire has seen that anger brought to the surface. as the mayor visited the scene today he was not universally welcomed. some came to take pictures. some came to vent their anger.” some came to take pictures. some came to vent their anger. i don't wa nt to came to vent their anger. i don't want to hear this rubbish. can i think you all... inaudible cani inaudible can ijust inaudible can i just say... inaudible can ijust say... when he did speak it was to praise the reaction of the local community. the response from the local community has been amazing. they have come together. they have shown them with support

for the victims, the families, and the friends of all those affected by this. we have seen nobody. as you will see, understandably... understandably, the residents are very angry and concerned. they have genuine questions that demand answers. thank you for your help, i appreciate it. no handshakes with these politicians. we want action is not handshakes. the labour leader also got a taste of the local anger. they knew. they knew it was unsafe. there is clearly a lot of public anger. people said they were warned. people said not enough was done. and people say it was because the people in that block were poor members of the community and had it been a block from millionaires perhaps this tragedy would not have happened. everybody deserves total protection.

everybody deserves total protection. everybody deserves to be living in total safety. everybody deserves the same attention from public services. rich, poor, and in between. the prime minister promised local homes for all of those affected and promised a full investigation. we will support every family that is affected. we will be doing that. the leader of the opposition talked about the concerns. we are also hearing the same thing. they may be hearing the same thing. they may be hearing it, they will bejudged on what they do about it. joining us now is ronnie king. thank you forjoining us. would you explain just how your group fits in with the political process. the group is made up of mps and peers. they volunteer to join the group because they have an interest in

fire and fire safety. we have been an active group. it is probably one of the best attended groups in parliament. it has no real status inasmuch as it cannot take any