Thousands Gather in West London to Commemorate the Victims of the Grenfell Fire

On June 14, thousands came together for a silent march in west London to commemorate the victims of the Grenfell fire tragedy on its second anniversary. A 72-second silence was observed at the basement of the burned down Grenfell Tower to pay homage to the 72 victims. The event was attended by the relatives of the victims, and joined by Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and English rapper Stormzy, among others. On June 15, hundreds marched to the UK Home Office headquarters in London, calling for government action on fire safety.

The fire broke out on June 14, 2017, reportedly from a malfunctioning freezer, in the 24-storey Grenfell Tower housing block in North Kensington, West London. It resulted in 72 deaths, including women and children, and injured more than 70 people. The rapid spread of the fire and the extensive damage has been attributed to the building’s cladding and the external insulation which burned for about 60 hours.

“#Grenfell Tower remains a tragic monument to the lives that were lost on the night of 14 June 2017, and to a failed system. Today, we recommit to creating a housing system and a society where such a tragedy can never happen again. This must be the enduring legacy of Grenfell,” Jeremy Corbyn tweeted on June 14.

Orlando, one of the protesters at the rally, told Ruptly, “Justice looks, first of all, like having new social housing that actually addresses the problem of it. Not affordable housing, but social housing. Owners of these private towers will actually be fined, be [asked to take down] the cladding, not just specifically for Grenfell but changing the whole attitude towards social housing.”

The Grenfell United, formed by the survivors and the bereaved families of the victims, said that two years after the fire, people are still going to bed at night with no sprinklers, dangerous cladding and unfit fire doors.

The Grenfell fire survivors and the local communities are enraged at the extensive delay in filing the charge-sheet after the investigation into this incident. Meanwhile, various studies have found that hundreds of housing blocks still exist in London with conditions as precarious as that of the Grenfell Tower, which demand immediate development of infrastructure and safety mechanisms.