As local anger rises over the Grenfell Tower tragedy, protesters have now entered Kensington and Chelsea Town Hall:
#GrenfellTower demonstrators continue protest inside Kensington and Chelsea town hall https://t.co/CLEIhCldzN pic.twitter.com/6d2uNXWEit
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) June 16, 2017
Police have come in to remove people from the council building pic.twitter.com/sDhtcAJakS
— Ιman Amrani | ايمان (@ImaniAmrani) June 16, 2017
Latest scenes from the #GrenfellTower protest where people have now forced their way in to Kensington Town Hall pic.twitter.com/yQVJaqXLKl
— Sky News (@SkyNews) June 16, 2017
Outside, protesters have gathered to call for justice:
They were demanding that a senior council leader come to speak to them. Instead, the council’s Head of Communications gave them a written response. But many protesters were clearly unhappy with that response:
Friend of #GrenfellTower fire victim reads out statement from Kensington council amid protest at council building https://t.co/CLEIhCldzN pic.twitter.com/JUZhdMxfZY
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) June 16, 2017
The demands included that all residents of Grenfell Tower should be rehoused “within the borough”. The council said it planned to rehouse residents of Grenfell Tower “as locally as we can”. But reports on 16 June said that some Grenfell residents would be rehoused “outside the area”.
The protesters also demanded that the council release funds to help those affected. The council statement said:
We are already releasing funds to look after the immediate effects of all those affected.
And the protesters asked for a list of the number of people in Grenfell Tower. The council said this was a matter for other authorities, but it would try to provide a number by the end of the day.
Mounted police are reportedly at the scene.
A fire broke out at Grenfell Tower in the early hours of 14 June. Residents had raised safety concerns for years, but claimed their voices had fallen “on deaf ears”.
This is a developing situation. The Canary will be posting updates.
Featured image via screenshot