72 people died at the fire of the London Grenfell Tower. The burned -out high -rise is still seven years later, but now his demolition has been decided. Some members of the victims criticize this decision.
It has been more than seven years ago that 72 people died in a devastating fire in the London Grenfell Tower. Now the authorities have decided to demolish the burned -down residential tower. Minister of housing and Vice Prime Minister Angela Rayner announced “her decision regarding the Grenfell Towers” in front of survivors and relatives of victims, the victim representative Grenfell Next of Kin (GNK) announced in online service X.
Grenfell Next of Kin spoke of a “sensitive decision”. The group would have liked to see that the residential tower in the North Kensington district was preserved as a memorial. However, the victim representation had realized that this was not possible for security reasons.
The perspective of the relatives is not sufficiently taken into account
Another group, which also represents the families of the victims, sees it very differently: The Grenfell United group sharply criticized the decision. The view of the relatives was not taken into account in the “short” consultations. “Today's meeting has shown how much survivors and survivors take that their views were not heard or taken into account in this decision,” said Grenfell United on X. Ignoring the loved ones, “is unforgivable, it said.
According to a spokesman for the Ministry of Construction, Rayner wanted to inform the bereaved and survivors before there is an official announcement. According to the responsible engineers, the structure of the tower is increasingly deteriorating. As a precaution, he must therefore be demolished.
In the early morning of June 14, 2017, a fire broke out in the 24-story residential tower with social housing. The trigger was a defective refrigerator on the fourth floor. The flames spread to the top floor within half an hour via a high combustible facade cladding. Many residents were helplessly at the mercy of the fire. It was the fire with most fatalities in a residential building in Great Britain since World War II.
The Grenfell Tower in London burned down in 2017. In the meantime, he has been covered for security reasons.
Memorial into planning
The area around the burned -out tower has now been cordoned off with a wooden fence. Countless messages, pictures and souvenirs are attached to this in different languages. The government originally decided that nothing should be changed on the premises before the eighth anniversary of the disaster in June.
A commission that deals with a future memorial at the location of the catastrophe said in its report for 2023 that the tower, if it is torn down, should be removed “with care and respect”. A final draft for the memorial is expected for spring 2026.
All deaths “avoidable”
An investigation report published last year saw in the fire a consequence of “decades of failure” of the British government and “systematic dishonest” of building materials. According to the report, all 72 deaths would have been avoidable. Prime Minister Keir Strander apologized for the tragedy on behalf of the state.
The investigation report also criticized the government and important authorities at the time. The allegations against the building materials that had delivered the facade cladding and other insulation materials are particularly difficult for the building materials. The investigators accuse them of “systematic dishonesty” because they “consciously and constantly” manipulated tests and their results.
The government's sacrificial groups accuse the government of having not implemented recommendations for fire protection quickly enough after the catastrophe. They also criticize the delay in the collection of criminal charges against those responsible for the disaster according to the investigation. According to BBC, a government announcement to demolish the Grenfell Tower is expected for Friday.
