LONDON, Sept 4, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Prime Minister Keir Starmer offered an apology on behalf of the British state on Wednesday, saying the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire in which 72 were killed "should never have happened".

   "The country failed to discharge its most fundamental duty: to protect you and your loved ones... And I am deeply sorry," Starmer said in a statement to parliament after a critical final report on the disaster was released.