A few dozen people gathered on the first floor of Church House, the headquarters of the Church of England, an imposing building located just behind Westminster Abbey in London. This Thursday, January 25, will begin the third morning of the “week of testimonies” of the victims of the terrible fire at Grenfell Tower, to the west of the city, which, on the night of June 14, 2017, left seventy-two dead, including eighteen children.
This is an unprecedented exercise: in May 2023, following a civil trial, survivors and bereaved families (900 people in total) obtained 150 million pounds sterling (176 million euros) in damages and interests, but also the right to organize a meeting with the actors they hold responsible for the tragedy, in order to tell them about their trauma eye to eye.
The elected officials of the very chic borough of Kensington and Chelsea were thus invited, the owner of the twenty-four-story tower, who had little regard for the safety of its inhabitants, the companies having manufactured the flammable coverings with which it was covered or the firefighters who too late advised residents to flee the building transformed into a huge torch.
It is a powerful cathartic exercise, all the more intense since, almost seven years after this tragedy, no criminal trial has yet taken place, with the police explaining that they want to wait until the end (not expected before the summer ) of a public inquiry launched by the government to start investigations.
“She had no chance in this hell”
The session begins like a religious ceremony: the names of the seventy-two missing are listed on a giant screen, then the audience respects seventy-two seconds of silence. The testimonies can begin: these are films, photographic montages retracing the lives of the deceased, speeches from loved ones. The residents of Grenfell formed a close-knit community, households with children, young professionals, retirees, all had in common that they came from rather modest backgrounds, often with an immigrant background.
The entire family of Sheila, 84 years old, a loving and independent grandmother, came. His eldest son, Martyn Smith, showed up with his wife, younger brother and daughter, Harriet. Sheila lived on the sixteenth floor. She often complained about faulty elevators or strange gas smells in the building. The fire broke out around midnight in an apartment on the fourth floor and quickly spread to the upper levels.
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