06/05/2004
Coroner returns open verdicts on New Cross fire
A Coroner has returned open verdicts in relation to the deaths of 13 people in a fire in New Cross in 1981.
All had died when a fire swept through a house in south-east London where a birthday party was being held.
While an open verdict had been returned at the original coroners' inquests, a subsequent police investigation was launched in 1997 and a further inquest was ordered.
The victims aged between 13 and 22 were black children and the survivors and the relatives of those who lost their lives had maintained that the fire had been due to a racist attack.
Returning an open verdict, the coroner noted that the cause of the fire, which is believed to have started in an armchair in a front room of the house, could not be determined with certainty.
(SP)
All had died when a fire swept through a house in south-east London where a birthday party was being held.
While an open verdict had been returned at the original coroners' inquests, a subsequent police investigation was launched in 1997 and a further inquest was ordered.
The victims aged between 13 and 22 were black children and the survivors and the relatives of those who lost their lives had maintained that the fire had been due to a racist attack.
Returning an open verdict, the coroner noted that the cause of the fire, which is believed to have started in an armchair in a front room of the house, could not be determined with certainty.
(SP)
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