On Wednesday, a devastating fire broke out in the London flat block Grenfell Tower, and since then, the situation has escalated and progressed. Here's what we know as of now about the aftermath of the terrible disaster. For starters, the Police have confirmed that 30 people died in the fire, which engulfed the entire 24-storey building in flames.
The residents of Grenfell Tower have continued to express their anger that nothing was done about the fire risks in the building, despite various complaints they submitted with the council and the fire brigade.
They're also angry that the emergency services have been taking so long to identify who these victims are. According to the Metropolitan police service, the death count is expected to rise in the coming days, a cherry on top of the tragedy as if it wasn't already more than enough.
Over 70 people still remain unaccounted for
According to missing persons posters, residents' accounts of the events of Wednesday, and appeals on social media, over 70 people's whereabouts still remain unknown, although the fire brigade are not expecting to find any more survivors in the charred wreckage of Grenfell Tower. The Met are unable to confirm the actual number of people who still remain missing after the fire, but it's definitely high.
The NHS have announced that 24 survivors from the Grenfell Tower fire are continuing to be treated at various hospital across London. They have also confirmed that 12 of the 24 are in critical care. Also, it's been made known that one of the 30 people known to have died in the disaster died at the hospital after sustaining terrible injuries.
Labour MP David Lammy has named his family friend, the artist Khadija Saye, as one of those who died. The first victim identified was Mohammed Alhajali, a 24-year-old engineering student from Syria. His 25-year-old brother Omar managed to make it out alive and was treated at hospital afterwards.
After much criticism for allegedly not showing "humanity" by avoiding the Grenfell Tower victims directly affected by the fire, Theresa May has finally visited some of them at Kensington and Chelsea Hospital.
People with loved ones in the building have been getting angered as the emergency services have supposedly not been offering them enough information and left them hanging for far too long (two days now and counting).
Those responsible have been avoiding blame
Gavin Barwell, the guy who was responsible for ignoring the residents' warnings that Grenfell Tower was a fire risk and was made the Prime Minister's chief of staff last week has been ignoring questions and refusing to face the music for his ignorant actions getting more than 30 people killed in a horrific fire. He also refused to answer questions for Sky News, but his refusal alone tells us all we need to know about whose fault this is.
This evening, a vigil will be held at Grenfell Tower to honour the memory of the victims of the terrible fire. There will also be a protest bearing the name "Justice for Grenfell!" outside the Marsham Street headquarters of the Department for Communities and Local Government. Scotland Yard has launched a criminal investigation into the fire as it's been revealed that the cladding panels that essentially caused the fire are similar to the ones illegalised in America five years ago for that express reason.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has used the Grenfell Tower fire as a springboard to criticise the Labour Party (a Tory smearing Labour, what a shocker!), ironically criticising them for “political game-playing” in a time of crisis, when by doing that, he is doing some “political game-playing” himself. The Queen and the Duke of Cambridge have made some visits to those involved, specifically volunteer helpers, community leaders, and a few survivors.
