A bonfire party during which a Grenfell Tower effigy was burned while revellers joked about the victims has been branded sick and disgraceful. The video, believed to have been shot in the UK, has been reported to Police.
The distressing footage emerged on social media on Monday. In one Twitter post, uploader Kay Oldroyd tagged police saying she wanted the people in the video –whom she described as “beasts”– to be prosecuted.
Depicting a bonfire garden party, a group of unidentified individuals can be seen placing a homemade model of the North Kensington tower block above a fire. The building was destroyed by a rapidly-spreading fire in June 2017, killing more than 70 people, many of whom were trapped in the upper floors of the building. Some of these residents had called fire services only to be advised to stay in their homes until firefighters made their way to them and cleared a safe evacuation path.
As the cardboard model of the tower block begins to burn, the group of men and women can be heard laughing. One man appears to mockingly say, “stay in your flat” as he re-positions the effigy above burning hot coals. “Help me, help me,” another man shrieks, apparently in jest, as the fire climbs the paper model.
A third man adds: “Didn’t it start on the 10th floor? We should have put it upside down.” A comment about a ‘ninja’ thought to be a racist reference to a victim can also be heard.
The bonfire footage has provoked outrage online and among politicians, with Home Secretary Sajid Javid describing it as “disgusting” behavior. Shadow Secretary Diane Abbott was equally swift in her condemnation of the video.
Speaking to LBC Radio, London Fire Commissioner Dany Cotton labelled the incident “appalling and disturbing”.
The video also caused uproar on social media, with many people calling the bonfire “sick” and disrespectful to those who died in the fire.
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