British police are offering a Stg£50,000 reward for evidence about the causes of a house fire which killed 14 young black people at a party 20 years' ago.
The reward comes five days before the 20th anniversary of the fire in New Cross, south-east London, which started in the front room of the two-storey house in New Cross Road.
More than 50 of the 200 guests were still at the party when the blaze took hold. Some youngsters were trapped and others jumped from upper floors to escape.
Scotland Yard reopened its inquiry into the case in 1997 in the hope that new forensic techniques and fresh interviews with witnesses, including a number who would not talk to detectives during the original investigation, would solve a case that still disturbs the black community.
A review of the original 4-year investigation was ordered after the Stephen Lawrence case raised questions over the willingness of police to solve violent crimes with black victims.
A team under Deputy Assistant Commissioner John Grieve, head of the Yard's Racial and Violent Crimes Task Force, is investigating the fire - the force's oldest "live" murder, manslaughter or arson case.
At one stage the fire was blamed on racists, but this claim was discounted by the police and some of the relatives of the dead. Black activists also accused police of hiding behind theories that the blaze was caused by someone at the party.
An inquest returned open verdicts in the summer of 1983.
Detective Chief Supt Mike Parkes of the Racial and Violent Crimes Task Force said: "There were people at that party who have never come forward to speak to us.
"Their information could prove crucial to our investigation."
PA