The hearings have been revelatory. But the question of accountability remains unanswered
In less than two weeks’ time, the final phase of evidence at the Grenfell inquiry will end. These hearings are about how each of the fire’s 72 victims died, with the last story to be told that of Mehdi El Wahabi, who was just eight at the time. His cousin, Sara Chebiouni, who lived several floors down, thought that Mehdi might have become a comedian had he survived.
Haunting stories already read out have included that of 12-year-old Jessica Urbano Ramirez. When she picked up the phone to the emergency control room officer who stayed on a call with her as she succumbed to smoke inhalation, her first word was “Mum?” By concluding with these and other agonising details, the inquiry will end where it started, by placing the victims of the tragedy at the centre, where they belong.
