Novelist and poet Ben Okri has written a powerful, angry poem about the victims of Grenfell Tower, who died when their tower block in Kensington was engulfed in flames on 14 June. The blaze, which killed at least 79 people – the death toll is expected to rise further - was spread by unsafe cladding, and has led to 95 buildings across the country being found to be at similar risk.

Okri’s poem was originally published by the Financial Times, and has now featured on Channel 4 News. It begins: “It was like a burnt matchbox in the sky …” and goes on to lament the victims who “died because money could be saved and made”.

The poems describes “a land where the poor died in flames without warning” and goes on to say that sometimes it takes something like Grenfell Tower to wake a nation “from its secret shame”.

Towards the end of the poem Okri says: “If you want to see how the poor die, come to Grenfell Tower. See the tower, and let a world-changing dream flower.”

There is concern that the death toll may be higher than indicated by the official figures, due to the number of undocumented subtenants, migrants and asylum seekers believed to have lived in the building.

Two days after the blaze, the prime minister, Theresa May, announced a £5m fund for victims of the fire. May has now called for “a major national investigation” afters samples of external cladding from 95 buildings in 32 areas of England failed fire-proofing tests.