Grenfell Tower illuminated to mark seven-and-a-half years since the fire, last December (Picture: Lab Ky Mo/SOPA Images/Shuttersto)
The families of the people killed in the Grenfell Tower fire have been told the block will be demolished, it is understood.
Grenfell Next of Kin, a group representing some of the bereaved families, says Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, who is also Housing Secretary, ‘announced the decision that the tower will have to be carefully deconstructed’.
Some 72 people were killed in the blaze, which ripped through the London tower block on June 14, 2017 due to being clad in combustible materials.
The Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s final report, published in September, found the disaster was caused by ‘decades of failure’ by government and the construction industry to act on the dangers of flammable materials on high-rise buildings.
The shell of the building has stood in place ever since the fire, covered with sheeting featuring a green heart and the words ‘forever in our hearts’.
Views have varied on what should happen on the site, with some bereaved and survivors feeling the tower should remain in place until there are criminal prosecutions over the failings which led to the fire.
Survivors and bereaved families have been campaigning for justice ever since (Picture: Lab Ky Mo/SOPA Images/Shuttersto)
The remains of the tower have stood ever since (Picture: REUTERS)
72 people died in the fire (Picture: Yui Mok/PA Wire)
It’s hoped the government will announce more details about the building’s future this week, but their most recent update said structural engineering advice remained unchanged ‘in that the building (or that part of it that was significantly damaged) should be carefully taken down’.
A spokesperson for Grenfell Next of Kin said: ‘For the next of kin of the deceased, that building is a shrine and the death place of their immediate families, their brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, husbands, wives and children – but they understand the hard facts around safety.’
They added that the decision around the tower’s future is ‘obviously a very sensitive and difficult’ one.
A government spokesperson said: ‘The priority for the Deputy Prime Minister is to meet with and write to the bereaved, survivors and the immediate community to let them know her decision on the future of the Grenfell Tower.
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‘This is a deeply personal matter for all those affected, and the Deputy Prime Minister is committed to keeping their voice at the heart of this.’
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