Calls for public inquiry nine years on from Didcot A Power Station collapse
Thames Valley Police say they are continuing to investigate the incident where four men lost their lives in 2016.
Today (23 February) marks nine years since the Didcot A Power station collapse.
The tragedy saw the boiler house collapse, as the disused coal-fired plant was being prepared for demolition.
John Shaw, Christopher Huxtable, Michael Collings and Ken Cresswell were killed on February 23, 2016.
At the time, it took more than six months to recover the bodies of all four men who were working at the site.
Thames Valley Police is still leading an investigation into the building collapse, including into corporate manslaughter offences.
But there are calls for an inquiry into what has taken so many years, with there being no more answers in that time as to the cause and if anyone was at fault.
"We have taken nine years without any form of resolution. It's a disgrace. "
Mark Anthony is a demolition journalist. He says his thought goes out to the families impacted:
"This has been a shadow that's been hanging over the demolition industry now for nine years without resolution, no justice for the families, no justice for the men that were killed, and obviously no explanation for the demolition industry."
Mark is calling for an inquiry into delays to answers:
"The very fact that nobody has been held to account, no heads have rolled. There's been no public inquiry means that the Health and Safety Executive, who admittedly don't have primacy on this, and the Thames Valley Police have no reason whatsoever to react any quicker in the future. "
Family's worried calls
On the ninth anniversary of the tradegy we've been speaking to one of the first responders to arrive on the day.
Firefighter Steve Wright was the watch manager for the first crew that arrived on scene:
"I do remember coming home that night and looking at my phone, and seeing the number of missed calls I'd had because it was such a significant incident. I had phone calls and messages from from my wife, from from family members that had seen the incident on the news and were wondering if we were safe."
Steve tells us what it was like that day:
"II think you go into a mode of look, we've got a job to do. We need to help people, but I think it was the scale of it, in the numbers of people that we needed to help, and that the potential for the further collapse and the further risks that presented themselves.
We were unsure, fully, I suppose what had happened and what had caused it at that point in time, but it was that focus on rescuing the people. We could unfortunately couldn't rescue everyone."
Thames Valley Police investigation
Thames Valley Police and the Health and Safety Executive continue their joint investigation, led by the force, into the collapse.
Deputy Chief Constable Ben Snuggs said: “We today pay tribute to the four men who lost their lives following the partial collapse at Didcot Power Station and my thoughts remain with the families of Michael Collings, Ken Cresswell, Christopher Huxtable and John Shaw, who lost their lives.
“Our dedicated joint investigation team continues to make meaningful progress in this highly complex case which is actively investigating offences of corporate manslaughter, gross negligence manslaughter and Health and Safety at Work Act offences.
“The scale of the investigation is almost unprecedented.
“To date, the investigation team has collated and analysed over 6,500 exhibits, 90,000 images, and 230,000 digital media artefacts.
“Over 180 hours of video recorded witness and suspect interviews have been conducted, in addition to the 2,812 statements taken.
“The investigation team also continues to conduct further interviews and, while we cannot put a specific timeframe on when the investigation will conclude, we are confident that we are moving towards the latter stages of our enquiries.
“Our officers continue to provide regular updates to the families on the investigation progress, as well as to the Crown Prosecution Service.
“We remain totally committed to investigating what happened at Didcot and providing the answers the families deserve. I want to thank them for their ongoing and unwavering support.”