TEARS FLOW FOR GRENFELL
Royals comfort victims’ families after memorial ceremony at St Paul’s
IN an outpouring of grief and anger, families and survivors mourned those killed in Grenfell Tower at a national memorial service yesterday.
Prime Minister Theresa May and senior members of the Royal Family joined hundreds of mourners at St Paul’s Cathedral, organised to mark six months since the devastating fire in west London.
Families clutched white roses and photographs of the 71 who died, including 18 children, and wept as pupils scattered green paper hearts in the cathedral in memory of the victims.
Dr Graham Tomlin, the Bishop of Kensington, referred to the fate of those in the council flats in one of the richest postcodes in the world, telling mourners that London had become too caught up in its prosperity to notice failings that led to the tragedy.
The Duchess of Cambridge appeared close to tears as she and Prince William met mourning relatives.
Prince William spoke to Clarrie Mendy, whose cousin Mary Mendy died with her 24-year-old daughter Khadija Saye in the fire on June 14.
Miss Mendy, who helped to organise the memorial service, said: ‘I think this is what the community needed, the bereaved families and the survivors. We just want to know we’re not alone.’
Survivor Fatima Jafari, 78, broke down as she met Prince Harry. Her husband Ali Yawar Jafari died after he was pulled from the burning building. He told her: ‘I am so incredibly sorry.’ Mrs Jafari’s daughter Maria, 38, said: ‘She cries every day, every second. When we are talking about our father, all the memories come out again. It’s six months and still very hard for us.’
Others spoke of their anger that residents’ warnings of fire safety failures at the 24-storey tower were ignored, and that survivors are still living in emergency accommodation.
Karim Mussilhy, whose uncle Hesham Rahman was killed, said: ‘We should never have been here today. Our friends, our families, should never have died. But we’re all here together, remembering them.
‘It’s just been awful, like a big abyss. But now all of this anger and frustration and sadness has turned into determination for justice, to make sure our loved-ones are not forgotten and the people who are responsible are held accountable.’
Their anger was reflected in a pointed address by Bishop Tomlin, who had warned members of Kensington and Chelsea council they would not be welcome at the service.
He said: ‘My hope, my prayer, is that today we will pledge ourselves to change, from a city where we didn’t listen, where we didn’t hear the cries of our neighbours because we were too wrapped up in our own interests and prosperity, to create a new type of life together, where we are turned not inwards to ourselves, but outwards towards each other.’
Grenfell Tower is owned by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, one of Britain’s richest areas, and has become a symbol of inequality to many.
Bishop Tomlin, who worked with survivors in organising the service, praised ‘acts of simple but remarkable generosity’ in the aftermath of the disaster, including a boy of six who donated his pocket money savings of £60.
But he said too many survivors remained living in ‘limbo’ in hotel
‘A community left uncared for’
rooms, adding: ‘Today we ask why warnings were not heeded, why a community was left feeling neglected, uncared for, not listened to.
‘We trust that the truth will bring justice, and that justice will enable true reconciliation, the eventual healing of the divides in our life together that this tragedy has revealed.’
Downing Street said Mrs May met families at the service, but had to go to Brussels immediately afterwards.
Sir Martin Moore-Bick, the judge leading the public inquiry into the fire, was among those attending, along with Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick, whose officers are carrying out a criminal investigation.
Singers Adele and Marcus Mumford were also invited, along with Mr Mumford’s wife, actress Carey Mulligan. Adele has visited families and firefighters at the scene and has backed survivors who are seeking a greater role in the public inquiry.
Mr Mumford, of the British band
Mumford & Sons, has also helped to raise funds for the families affected.
Poignantly, one of the youngest victims, a six-month-old girl found dead in her mother’s arms, would have been one yesterday. Her parents and sister also died. Activists have been accused of trying to politicise the fire. After the service, hundreds of people, led by survivors and victims’ families, gathered in North Kensington for a silent march. Although organisers said it was not political, far-Left groups such as the Socialist Workers `Party, the Socialist Equality Party, the Revolutionary Communist Group and Stand Up To Racism handed out leaflets.