Anger erupts over possible flaws at burned London tower

Grief turned to outrage Friday over a deadly high-rise tower fire in London amid reports that materials used in the building’s renovation could have fuelled the inferno that left dozens dead and missing as it decimated the public housing block.

Tensions were high Friday two days after the overnight fire gutted the huge housing block, killing at least 30 people and leaving dozens missing and hundreds homeless.

Scuffles broke out near the Kensington and Chelsea town hall offices as demonstrators chanting “We want justice!” surged toward the doors.

London has a chronic housing shortage even in the best of times, and those left homeless by the fire, already angry over what they see as government inequity and incompetence, fear being forced out of the British capital.

The Grenfell Tower housed about 600 people in 120 apartments. Britain’s Press Association reported that some 70 people are still missing after the fire. London Mayor Sadiq Khan said people were frustrated by the lack of information about the missing and the dead as well as a lack of coordination between support services. Residents who survived the tower blaze lost everything and have no idea where they are going to live or how they will get back on their feet. “The scale of this tragedy is clearly proving too much for the local authority to cope with on their own,” Khan said in an open letter to Prime Minister Theresa May. After meeting with Grenfell survivors on Friday, May announced a $6.4 million fund to help them and expressed sorrow for their plight. The package includes a guarantee to rehouse people as close as possible to where they previously lived, a poor neighbourhood surrounded by extreme wealth.

But the Conservative leader still struggled to overcome accusations that she lacked compassion because she had failed to meet with victims on her first visit to the devastated site. Police surrounded May as she left a church Friday following the meeting with survivors and protesters shouted “Shame on you!” and “Coward!”

Using drones and sniffer dogs, firefighters continued to search the burned-out housing block that looms over the low-income community in west London.

London Police have launched an investigation to determine whether any crimes contributed to the blaze. May on Thursday announced a public inquiry while Khan called for an interim report on the fire to be published this summer.

Grenfell Tower is a public housing project owned by the local government council and managed by a nonprofit known as the Kensington and Chelsea Tenants Management Organisation. Aluminum composite panels essentially consist of two thin layers of aluminum sandwiched around a lightweight insulating material. Standard versions use plastic such as polyethylene for the core, while more expensive variants use fire-resistant material. Families searching for loved ones have blanketed the area near the tower with posters. Whole families are said to be among the missing. Nearly 110 families made homeless from the blaze are being housed at hotels in west London. Churches and community centres are providing meals and support, and donations of clothing, toys and household supplies are flooding in.

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince William visited an aid distribution site Friday for the tower’s residents and met with volunteers.

Even amid the chaos and the frustration, some found a moment to seek unity. A special service was held Friday afternoon at the al-Manaar Muslim Cultural Heritage Centre to pray for the victims, and for the families waiting for news.

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