Defects in products made by US companies ignited and fuelled the catastrophic 2017 Grenfell Tower fire in London that killed 72 people, according to a lawsuit filed in Philadelphia.
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Attorneys for the plaintiffs said on Tuesday they represent the estates of 69 of the 72 people who perished in the residential high-rise fire, and 177 survivors who suffered life-altering injuries.
The 420-page lawsuit demands a jury trial but does not specify the amount of compensation being sought.
The plaintiffs' attorneys said the case marks one of the highest number of individual wrongful death and personal injury claims ever brought in a single product liability lawsuit stemming from one incident.
The suit says flammable plastic parts in a refrigerator from Whirlpool Corp ignited the blaze and the flames were swiftly spread by highly combustible materials in the American-designed insulation and exterior cladding that encased the structure.
Those materials "turned the Grenfell Tower into a cylinder of fire", Jeffrey Goodman, an attorney for one of two law firms that brought the case, told a news conference in Philadelphia.
In addition to Whirlpool, based in Michigan, the suit names as defendants cladding supplier Arconic Inc , headquartered in Pittsburgh, and insulation maker Celotex Corp, a US subsidiary of French multinational Saint-Gobain, based outside Philadelphia.
"This case is filed in America to hold the American corporations responsible for the devastation and tragedy they caused," Goodman said.
Two of the companies, Whirlpool and Arconic, issued statements expressing their "deepest sympathy" to the fire's victims and both said they were co-operating with investigations by British authorities into the tragedy.
Whirlpool told owners of its products "they are safe and they can continue to use them as normal".
It said a probe by British regulators and its own internal investigation "found no evidence of any fault" with the refrigerator model in question.
Arconic said it would "respond to this litigation in court".
Celotex could not immediately be reached for comment. Last month it said it was "co-operating fully with the public inquiry regarding Grenfell Tower".
Fire safety experts found the blaze started on the fourth floor of the 24-floor building on June 14, 2017, ignited the exterior cladding and raced up the structure's facade to the top floor within half an hour.
Australian Associated Press
