Grenfell ninth anniversary 'particularly difficult'

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A man who lost his niece and his cousin in the Grenfell fire nine years ago has said the slow dismantling of the tower added to the distress.

Damel Carayol, a founder of grassroots campaign group Humanity for Grenfell, spoke to BBC London ahead of a memorial event on Sunday, the ninth anniversary of the tragedy in which 72 people died.

He said: “Something about this year kind of tipped a lot of people over to feeling the stress, the strain, the exhaustion of fighting year after year … when there’s nothing going on it can drain you, and quite a few people are feeling that way.”

He added: “We will carry on until justice is served.”

Carayol’s cousin Mary Mendy and her daughter, Khadija Saye died in the fire on 14 June 2017.

He said he was campaigning for justice for the victims, “not just for us and the people who lost their lives, but also people living in the cladded flats who still need the cladding removed – we’re doing it for everybody”.

Carayol said the memorial service on Sunday was “special”.

“We will be lighting candles, 72 candles, with all the lives that we lost, their names on it.

“We’ll be reading out the names, we’ll be singing hymns, Amazing Grace, How Great Thou Art, and myself and the choir, the Humanity for Grenfell Gospel Choir.

“We’ll be singing that, Bridge Over Troubled Water, Where Was the Water, and One Love as well to close the service.”

Carayol said the Humanity for Grenfell group “came together to try and see what we can do to try and resolve this horrible situation that we find ourselves in”.

He added: “This ninth year has been particularly difficult.

“You know, everybody has to be honest with themselves and also to people they speak to.

“And if I’m honest to myself, I’ve found this year quite trying, quite difficult.

“And I’m not the only one, there’s a few people, few bereaved people who’ve found it. Something about this ninth year, you know, the tower coming down is a big factor in that.”

The tower – once a 23-storey high rise block home to hundreds of people – is being brought to the ground floor by floor.

The demolition began in September 2025 and is expected to take two years to complete.

Just before 01:00 BST on 14 June 2017, fire broke out in the kitchen of a fourth floor flat before spreading through the whole building.

The Met Police have said their investigation into the fire was the force’s most complex in its history.

There are 57 people and 20 organisations currently under suspicion of criminal offences including corporate manslaughter and misconduct in public office.

Decisions will be made on whether any charges will be brought before next year’s 10th anniversary, Scotland Yard said.

The Grenfell Tower fire was caused by a chain of failures by governments, “dishonest” companies and shortcomings in the fire service, a public inquiry found.

Operation Northleigh, the £150m probe into the disaster of 14 June 2017, has examined the actions of 15,000 people across 700 organisations in the largest and most complex investigation ever carried out by the Met Police.

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