Hearing the voices of all Grenfell Tower survivors and bereaved families could help save lives in the future, an inquiry has heard.
The judge-led probe into the disaster which killed 71 is holding two days of procedural hearings, focusing on case management matters such as timeframes, witnesses and the disclosure of evidence.
Richard Millett, counsel to the inquiry, said evidence from those who escaped the blaze or lost loved ones could help ensure "something like this never happens again".
The Metropolitan Police is now investigating offences including misconduct in public office, manslaughter, corporate manslaughter and breaches of fire safety regulations in relation to the fire, it was heard.
Jeremy Johnson, representing the force, said that outside of major counter-terror operations, the police inquiry into the Grenfell Tower tragedy was "unprecedented".
Core participant status has now been granted to 424 individuals and groups, allowing them access to evidence and the right to suggest lines of questioning, it was heard.
Sir Martin Moore-Bick, the retired Court of Appeal judge leading the process, hopes to deliver an interim report into the fire's causes and the emergency response by next autumn, it was heard.
Mr Millett told a hearing at Holborn Bar in central London: "As to the Grenfell Tower survivors, residents and bereaved, it is of great importance to the inquiry that each individual voice of those most affected by the fire is heard.
"This is a shared trauma, a community devastated, but each of them has their own story to tell.
"Their evidence will be crucial to the inquiry's understanding of what happened inside and around Grenfell Tower before the fire, during the fire and after the fire - their evidence can and will help us save the lives of others."
A total of 270,000 documents are expected to be submitted to the inquiry to assist its work, it was heard.
Police, meanwhile, have now acquired 31 million documents and seized 2,500 exhibits, Mr Johnson said.
Mr Millett continued: "Giving that evidence is also one aspect of the way that each of them individually can be heard and perhaps find some measure of closure.
He added that the fire at Grenfell Tower was an "utterly appalling event and the experiences of it are stamped on the memories" of those who lived there or lost loved ones.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here