The fire that raged through 24 storey Grenfell Tower, which
has killed 79 people, is the deadliest in London during the 21st
century, and the worst ever in a UK tower block. Another fourteen people are in
hospital.
Until now, London’s most notorious tower block disaster was
Ronan Point in Newham in 1968. The building had 23 storeys and was brand new. Families
had been in for only two months when at six o’ clock on a May morning, they
were woken by a huge explosion and some found their walls ripped away, leaving
them staring at a fearful drop just a few feet away.
The whole of one corner had simply fallen away. On floor after
floor, furniture was left perched on the edge of the abyss. Five people were
killed and eleven injured.
The cause was a gas explosion on the 18th floor –
the result of a substandard brass nut connecting a cooker to the gas supply. The
council repaired the block and moved tenants back in, but the explosion was a
major blow to the prestige of tower blocks, and in 1986, Ronan Point was
demolished.
For the story, see London’s
Disasters. From Boudicca to the Banking Crisis.
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