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Survivors and relatives of victims from Grenfell Tower have said they feel “vindicated” by the inquiry’s initial report into the fire that killed 72 people nearly two-and-a-half years ago.

At an emotional press conference following publication of Sir Martin Moore-Bick’s interim report, bereaved family members stood in silence for 72 seconds – one for each of those killed by the 14 June 2017 blaze.

Long-awaited report into tragedy that killed 72 people says shortcomings cost lives

The London fire brigade’s readiness for the Grenfell Tower fire was “gravely inadequate” and fewer people would have died if it had been better prepared, a long-awaited public inquiry report into the disaster that killed 72 people has concluded.

The report into the biggest single loss of life in London since the second world war also ruled that the building had been refurbished in breach of safety regulations and that contrary to the evidence so far of the cladding panel manufacturer, Arconic, “the principal reason why the flames spread so rapidly up the building” was its aluminium composite panels and the “melting and dripping of burning polyethylene”.