The Press Association
LONDON — The man who chaired the inquiry into the King’s Cross fire disaster — which happened 20 years ago — has expressed concern that emergency services are still unable to communicate underground.
Sir Desmond Fennell told the BBC: “If the Americans can communicate with a man on the moon, then it seems extraordinary that the Brits cannot ... get a system going down to people 20 yards beneath the surface.”
Last year the report into the London Tube bombings of July 7, 2005 revealed that radios used by most blue-light emergency services still did not work underground, despite recommendations made in the wake of the fire.
It said: “It’s unacceptable that the emergency services, with the exception of the British Transport Police, are still not able to communicate by radio when they are underground.”
A spokesman for the Fire Brigades Union endorsed Sir Desmond’s concerns.
The FBU spokesman said: “It is surprising that 20 years after the fire, 18 years after the recommendation, that there are still poor communications on underground systems in London. It’s been shown up on a number of occasions in the last 18 years, including July 7 and the attempted bombings two weeks later.
“We hear that BTP has some form of communication underground, so why is the fire service, which plays a major role underground, still without it?”
John Healey, minister for local government, and co-chair of the London Regional Resilience Forum, said: “Many lessons have been learned since the tragedy of the King’s Cross fire 20 years ago. Government is investing £1 billion to give the fire and rescue service the equipment and resilience that it needs to meet the challenges of today’s world. The ongoing rollout of common radio systems across the emergency services will improve inter-service radio communications.
“The installation of a digital radio system within London Underground will also further improve emergency services communications - this should be completed by the end of 2008.”
The concerns over communications were expressed as a wreath was laid at King’s Cross Tube station to mark the 20th anniversary of the tragedy. A fire which began beneath a wooden escalator claimed the lives of 31 people and injured about 60.
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