Four years on... & still no justice
Dad trapped in Grenfell for 5hrs speaks of upset
GRENFELL tower survivor Antonio Roncolato spent five hours in the block as the blaze raged – but four years on is still waiting for justice.
Antonio, 61, lived on the 10th floor and escaped at 6.05am, the second to last person to get out.
As people gathered to mark the anniversary of the 2017 fire that killed 72 people he said the inquiry shows “only very few” are admitting wrongdoing.
He added: “They are all doing ‘climb up on mirrors’, as we say in Italy, to escape evidence.
“The facts, they are black and white.”
Residents attend the ongoing inquiry and support each other.
Antonio said: “We look at each other and you just shake your head. Sometimes I feel like expressing myself in a not very polite way.”
He was there to hear evidence from the man who carried out fire risk assessments on the tower and one of the ward councillors who raised residents’ concerns about the refurbishment.
Antonio said: “We have so much coming out of the inquiry to a point that
nothing surprises us anymore. I’ve found only a very few admitted their wrongdoing.” He feels some witnesses are “still trying to deny” their role in the disaster.
He said: “It’s upsetting. Your blood is boiling. I feel they are not ashamed.”
But he hopes after the inquiry the police will get the evidence “to nail them”. “This is what keeps us going,” he said. While trapped he had tried to get
out of the blazing tower twice but was forced back by thick black smoke.
Son Christopher watched helplessly outside and made a desperate phone call to him. “He was impotent, knowing I was inside,” said Antonio.
Now he hopes for justice for the survivors and those who died in the building in North Kensington, West London.
It is estimated that about 274,000 flats have been fitted with dangerous cladding across the UK. This is affecting more than 650,000 people.
He wants the tower to be a “constant reminder” until the bereaved are ready for what happens next.
And he wants everyone to have a safe home, which he and his neighbours campaigned for over many years.
Antonio said: “It’s a big difference when you get home and you have a home that’s comfortable – it’s priceless.”