Grief boils over to fury
LONDON Fury and frustration with the British government’s handling of a fire in a London public housing high-rise that claimed at least 30 lives boiled over yesterday, with protesters storming the local council office and berating Prime Minister Theresa May when she visited near the scene of the blaze.
‘‘Shame on you!’’ people shouted at May as she rushed into a waiting SUV and was quickly driven away, with police struggling to hold back dozens of angry demonstrators.
Earlier, members of an impromptu protest had pushed their way past security and into the council building of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea – the super-posh borough of London where the Grenfell Tower, once home to 600 people, burned through the night.
Many of the protesters held aloft posters bearing the faces of the missing and chanted ‘‘ We want justice!’’. They left the building soon after entering. But hundreds of people remained outside, demonstrating into the evening.
The fast-rising tensions came amid new revelations about potential cost-cutting in the refurbishment of the tower, which may have contributed to the astonishing speed with which it burned.
It also came as police acknowledged that they do not know how many people died in the blaze, and may never be able to identify all of the victims.
Authorities raised the death toll to 30 yesterday, up from 17 on Friday, as relatives and friends expanded frantic searches for missing loved ones.
‘‘Sadly, I do believe that those numbers will increase,’’ London Police Commander Stuart Cundy said. He said 24 people were being treated in hospitals, including 12 in critical care.
For three days, survivors and relatives of the dead or missing have been pressing for answers about whether inadequate safety systems or substandard construction material could have contributed to a blaze that climbed up the building faster than people could flee.
Residents had long demanded that the local council and the management company do more to improve their building’s safety. But they say their pleas for help went unheeded.
Cundy said there was no indication that the fire was started deliberately, but investigators were still studying why the flames raced so quickly through the 24-storey building.
A visit to the scene of the disaster by the Queen and Prince William yesterday has increased the pressure on May, who was heavily criticised for meeting emergency workers but not with relatives or survivors during a visit on Friday. Her office cited security concerns as the reason.
May later visited a local church and announced a £5 million fund to help the victims’ families. But May – who only narrowly managed to stay on as prime minister following a bruising election last week – was roundly booed. Many in the crowd blamed her ruling Conservative Party for years of cuts and deregulation that they said had contributed to the disaster.
Britain’s Guardian newspaper reported yesterday that the cladding panels used in last year’s renovation of the building were cheaper per square metre than a fire-resistant model. The Times reported that the type of cladding GETTY IMAGES used on the building had been banned in American high-rise buildings due to safety concerns.
The contractor that carried out the renovations, the management organisation and the council have all denied wrongdoing, saying last year’s work complied with fire safety codes.
Yesterday, the streets around the tower were filled with posters bearing photos of toddlers, mothers with their daughters and entire families.
‘‘My friend Khadjia lives on the 20th floor of Grenfell Tower… we can’t get through to her,’’ read one, posted on a bus stop. ‘‘Have you seen Jessica Urbano?’’ read another, which said that the curly-haired girl was 12.
Some parents who were separated from their children while fleeing the inferno are still holding out hope that they will be found alive. But authorities have said there is no hope that anyone else will be found alive in the building, which burned for about 48 hours after the blaze began.
But some said they were still holding out hope.
‘‘There’s hope for everyone,’’ said JoJo Badano, 17, as she added a picture of her missing friends to a display board already crowded with posters. ‘‘You just have to keep trying to find them.’’ Washington Post