British Prime Minister Theresa May has told how she will "always regret" failing to meet survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire on her first visit to the scene.
May said those caught up in the tragedy needed to know that people in power understood their despair and admitted it "seemed as though I didn't care".
Ahead of the one-year anniversary of the disaster on Thursday, May said she counted herself among those whose initial response was "not good enough".
"It was a tragedy unparalleled in recent history and, although many people did incredible work during and after the fire, it has long been clear that the initial response was not good enough," she wrote in an article for London's Evening Standard.
"I include myself in that."
The day after the disaster May visited the site to speak to firefighters but did not meet any of the residents.
During a visit more than 48 hours after the inferno broke out she met a group of victims, volunteers and community leaders at a church close to the scene and faced cries of "coward" and "shame on you" from those gathered outside.
In a television interview at the time, she refused to be drawn on whether she had misread the public mood.
But in the article on Monday, the PM conceded she had made the wrong decision.
"What I did not do on that first visit was meet the residents and survivors who had escaped the blaze," she wrote.
"But the residents of Grenfell Tower needed to know that those in power recognised and understood their despair.
"And I will always regret that by not meeting them that day, it seemed as though I didn't care.
"That was never the case."
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