17/11/2017 London News

Now on BBC One, it's time

for the news where you are.

Good evening, I'm Asad Ahmad.

It'll be 30 years tomorrow

since the worst fire in the history

of the London Underground.

31 people - all named

here - were killed.

We'll be looking at the impact

the fire has had, but first,

here's Karl Mercer, who's been

speaking to Sophie Tarassenko,

whose brother Ivan died that night.

He was a pretty laid-back,

happy-go-lucky chap, a drummer,

very much interested in his art

and his music, his friends.

When you go through

King's Cross now.

Yeah.

Which you do.

You still go over, and...

Yes, absolutely.

I go over to the memorial, say "hi

Ivan", give him a little pat.

It almost means more that memorial

than his grave, which is in Dorset,

because that's the last place

he was alive.

The whole situation

is still very confused.

There certainly have

been several deaths.

There are still people

trapped in the Underground.

They identified Ivan

the following morning,

but the search for answers

was to be along for.

You cry a lot, for a long time.

It's a shocking thing, and every

time something like that happens,

whether it's Grenfell or a terrorist

incident, you just think

of all the people who

are getting that news.

Outside, the families of some

of the victims spoke

bitterly about the result.

It's been a complete travesty.

Sophie Tarassenko went on to become

one of the lead figures

in the King's Cross Family Action

Group.

You want to find out

why it wasn't avoided,

why those decisions were made,

for what reasons, and the drive

is always to ensure it

never happens again.

The sadness of it

grabs you suddenly.

There's still moments in the year

when you just suddenly go...

SHE GASPS.

"God, he should have been here."

My mother died last year on the 18th

of November, coincidentally,

so we have two things to remember

from now on, on the

18th of November.

I mean, I think it's pretty weird to

us that she died on that very day.

She never really got

over, of course, Ivan.

So, yeah, it's...

It's going to be a doubly sad day.

Well, the fire started

after a single match was discarded

on a wooden escalator.

It led to monumental changes in fire

safety, on the Underground

and the Fire Services generally.

Our transport correspondent,

Tom Edwards, has been looking

at the impact it had.

Thousands use this escalator

everyday, and many don't know this

is where the worst fire

in the history of the Tube started.

Stuart Button is now retired,

but nearly 30 years ago he was one

of the first firefighters to arrive.

We were laying out the equipment,

and it was then that we heard,

or started hearing all the screams.

I thought there must be loads

of people down there.

Just scream after scream.

30 years on, and this

official report still makes

terrifying reading.

It describes how the station, full

of commuters, turned into a furnace.

It also outlines how

the response from the emergency

services was hampered due

to a breakdown in communication.

There was a lack of knowledge

of the station layout.

The following inquiry led to huge

changes to the Tube and the Fire

Service's safety regimes.

Among the many recommendations,

wooden escalators should be removed,

smoking should be banned,

and heat detectors and sprinklers

should be installed.

And crucially, the emergency

services should be able

to communicate with each other

underground.

Most of the recommendations have

since been implemented.

These type of exercises

are now part of training,

and legislation ensures minimum

staffing levels

on deep line stations.

There isn't a month goes

by in my job that we don't reference

the King's Cross fire.

It had such a phenomenal

and beneficial effect

on the organisation.

So out of a desperate tragedy,

good things have actually come.

With cuts due on the Tube,

the unions say they'll resist

anything that they think

could compromise safety,

and these changes only happened

after the deaths of 31 Londoners.

Tom Edwards, BBC London News.

A mountain of illegally stacked

rubbish is being cleared from a site

in South East London.

Nearly 30,000 tonnes of waste

was removed from land in Orpington,

where it has been sitting next

to people's homes for years.

Waste4Fuel were responsible

for the rubbish, but the Environment

Agency has had to remove it -

much to the relief of locals.

The smells were terrible,

you couldn't open doors, windows,

you couldn't use your back garden.

You had the constant

threat of the fires.

Wonderful to see it disappear.

As you've probably been finding,

it's been a wonderful night

for Children in Need.

In London money has been pouring in,

and speaking to fundraisers

in a magical Harry Potter setting

at Warner Brothers Studios in

Herfordshire, has been Riz Lateef.

MUSIC

Welcome to a night of magic, and

much money being raised four

Children in Need. Take a look at

this place. It's a piece of movie

history.

We should all try and do

our part for Children in Need. I've

always wanted to do something and

now I've actually done something

it's amazing.

Why were you so keen

to raise money?

When I was younger I

was very lucky and I want children

to be as lucky as me.

You're going

to reveal how much you raised, which

is?

£2800!

I think this is

definitely one of the most iconic

props in the entire series.

The

sorting Hat itself is from way back

when in the Philosophers Stone.

What

you love about horse riding?

It

makes me feel amazing and free being

up on a horse and feeling like I can

be myself and looking after the

horses as well.

It has been a

magical night. Thank you everyone.

APPLAUSE

Thank you to everyone who has raised

and donated money.

And Children In Need will continue

in a few minutes' time.

First the weather with Tomasz.

Evening.

a little mixed.

Saturday starts off chilly

and bright, but by the time we get

to the afternoon it looks

like we are in for at

least a bit of rain.

A lot of clear skies out

there at the moment.

These are the morning

temperatures will be getting,

quite a nippy start.

As we head towards lunchtime those

clouds starts increase,

and by the time we get around 2pm,

there will be some rain

and drizzle pretty much right

across the south-east.

Not an awful lot, but it is going

to be a damp end to Saturday.

The temperatures will be

hovering around 7-9,

so a chilly, grey afternoon

on the way for Saturday.

Sunday is looking a lot better.

From the word go there

will be some sunshine,

and the sunny spells will come

and go through the

course of the day.

I think Sunday is looking a lot more

cheerful across the region.

By the time we get to Monday,

it looks like it'll cloud over.

There might be some rain around.

Also a chance of some

rain on Tuesday.

Now the national outlook

with Nick Miller.