An investigation by The Mirror has revealed that several firefighters who battled the fatal Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017, have developed rare cancers linked to prolonged exposure to pollutants. The Fire Brigades’ Union and the University of Central Lancashire funded the study.
Experts believe that there may be more than 20 instances connected to the disaster, which was the deadliest fire to strike Britain in a generation and claimed the lives of 72 inhabitants.
Some of the Grenfell firemen who have been diagnosed with cancer are just in their 40s, the newspaper stated, citing fire service sources. Most of them have digestive cancers and leukaemia. Other illnesses have also been recorded and they include kidney failure, heart disease and strokes.
Experts have blamed ‘high levels of unprecedented exposure to contaminants’ during the fire for the diagnoses. Officials are working to collate a list of firefighters who worked to put out the Grenfell blaze and have since been diagnosed with cancer.
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