Fire victims mark Eid al-Fitr
Mosque holds festival for kids in London apartment blaze
LONDON — The mosque near Grenfell Tower, the 24-story West London apartment building that was destroyed by fire on June 14, held a delayed Eid al-Fitr celebration on Saturday for survivors and their neighbors — and most of all, their children.
It featured a bouncy castle, face-painting tables, a playpen full of colorful balls, helium balloons on long strings — all funfair staples. Free food included chicken biryani and samosas, but also cookies and chocolate cupcakes. There was an old-fashioned popcorn popper and a vat to spin pink cotton candy — candy floss, Brits call it. Even the sun made an unscheduled appearance.
“These kids need something normal, just a chance to relax and have fun,” said Abdurahman Sayed, executive director of the Al Manaar Muslim Cultural Heritage Centre, which also houses the mosque.
Still, officials thought long and hard about whether to hold the event so soon, Sayed said.
He was a little worried that the parents would stay away, only two weeks after the tragedy that killed at least 80 people, with local and national governments still being battered by public fury, revelations about lapses that made the tower vulnerable to fire and serial resignations of public officials.
But the decision proved popular, and fairgoers of all ages filled the center and the blocked-off street outside.
With most of the Grenfell Tower survivors rehoused, for now, in hotel rooms, it was a welcome chance to take their children out somewhere and also see their friends and neighbors, Sayed said. “It’ll be good for the parents, too.”
Ahmed Palekar, who had many friends in the tower, came to watch. “This is our way of talking about something else other than the fire,” he said. “But behind each smile is a troubled recent past.”
Amina al-Wahadi attended with her children and her sister — who escaped from a lower floor of the tower with her husband and two children.
The sisters then watched as the flames engulfed the 21st floor, where their brother and his family lived; all five perished. The sisters were angry about how they had been treated by authorities — “lie after lie after lie,” as Wahadi put it.
But this day was for the children.
“We can’t begin to understand what they’ve gone through,” said Farita Latif, one of the face painters. “I just lost my friend in the tower, and I was crying for a week. Imagine losing a family?”
Another of the teachers was doing henna tattoos, popular with adult women in hijab, as well as schoolgirls in Western dress.
“I met a girl today,” the teacher said.
“I did her henna. She lost five of her friends. She was in year 7.” That is equivalent to U.S. sixth grade.
Most schools are still in session in England. At one local nursery, 11 Grenfell children are absent; at an elementary school, five are, parents said.
They are probably among the missing, now presumed dead. In many cases, no parents have called to report absences, probably because they are missing or dead, too.
Authorities are still trying to determine who was in the structure on the night of the blaze.
With anecdotal evidence suggesting some apartments were illegally sublet, authorities fear people might be afraid to come forward to offer valuable information that could identify the missing.
Because of that fear, British authorities on Sunday pledged not to prosecute anyone who unlawfully sublet apartments in the west London tower block.
Communities Secretary Sajid Javid’s announcement underscored that the prosecution guidance applied to anyone who comes forward with information about people in Grenfell Tower on June 14.
“Supporting those affected by the tragic events at Grenfell Tower has been the absolute priority of the government,” Javid said.
“That includes making sure that loved ones still missing are identified. Therefore, I would urge those with information to come forward without fear of prosecution.”
Meanwhile, the government pressed on with testing to identify other buildings encased in cladding material similar to that at Grenfell.
The tower had been recently renovated, and experts suggest the cladding placed on for decoration and energy efficiency might have been a factor in the quick spread of the blaze, which engulfed the building in less than an hour.
Cladding from 181 highrise buildings in 51 local authority areas has failed fire safety tests.