The UK government has decided to demolish Grenfell Tower in London, the site of a tragic fire that claimed 72 lives in 2017, as stated by a coalition representing the victims’ relatives.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner confirmed this information during a meeting with survivors and the victims’ families on Wednesday, according to a statement from the advocacy organization Grenfell Next of Kin.
A formal announcement from the government is anticipated on Friday, as reported by The London Standard.
The intentions to tear down the tower have sparked outrage among some family members who wish for it to remain standing until criminal charges are filed regarding the failures that led to the fire, or to be conserved as a memorial.
“Angela Rayner was unable to provide a justification for her choice to demolish the tower,” stated Grenfell United, an independent organization representing the families of the fire victims.
“She did not confirm how many bereaved individuals and survivors had been consulted during the recent, brief four-week period,” the group mentioned. “However, based on the attendees in the room—most of whom were bereaved—there was no support for her decision.”
Grenfell Next of Kin recognized that the tower, which is structurally at risk, “cannot be supported indefinitely due to safety issues.”
“We seek a conversation about the facts – the structural concerns that have led to this choice,” stated Grenfell Next of Kin. “We wish to discuss what will replace the Tower.”
Previously, the government declared it would not change the site, which has been recommended for “careful demolition,” ahead of the eighth anniversary of the tragedy on June 14.
A six-year public inquiry into the fire concluded that the calamity stemmed from “decades of negligence” that prioritized profit over safety.
The report from the inquiry, published last September, pointed out the shortcomings of successive UK governments, local council leaders, the fire service, and the companies responsible for the production and installation of the combustible cladding and insulation that enabled the fire to spread so swiftly.
Karim Mussilhy, 38, whose uncle perished on the top floor of Grenfell Tower, expressed to Al Jazeera that the community has been “let down in every single aspect … before, during, and after the fire, by [the] government, by corporations, by local authorities, by police, everyone failed us.”
