West London residents have expressed outrage at the influx of visitors taking selfies in front of Grenfell Tower and urged guests to refrain from partaking in “grief tourism”.
Numerous signs have been erected around the fire-ravaged 24-storey west London building urging visitors to “stop taking pictures please” and “stop taking selfies”.
Bystanders are said to be taking photos in front of the blackened skeleton without paying their respects to the 79 people who lost their lives in the inferno or engaging in relief efforts.
Wayne Kilo Lewis, who lived in the attached block to Grenfell for almost three decades, told The Independent anger among local residents was rising.
The 36-year-old, who lost a number of friends in the deadly fire, said locals and volunteers were telling visitors taking selfies to “show some respect” but they were ignoring their warnings and continuing to take photos.
“People are saying ‘show some respect this is not the time and place for it’ but they have continued doing it and just walked away to do it elsewhere,” he recalled.
“You don’t want to confront them because it’s all so sensitive but it gets to the stage you have so much upset and rage you just want to slap the phone out of their hands.”
He added: “It’s a disgusting sight which people who are trying to grieve do not want to see or ought to see. All the years in and out of that tower block, I could not physically stand there and look at the building because it was too overwhelming and emotional imagining the people trying to escape, and then people around you are having a laugh.”
Mr Lewis, who has lived in the adjoining block from the day he was born, claimed the groups of visitors were made up of people who had made the journey down from further afield and some young people from the area.
“The kids think it’s a normal thing but the adults should know better,” he added. “It is heartbreaking to behave like that in front of people who have nothing. The residents have had to stand up to say this is not a tourist attraction or somewhere to have fun.”
“If you’re going to go to such a tragic area, pay respect, console people, talk to people, don’t just use that opportunity as a ‘selfie moment’ or act like it’s a party turning up in bright clothes and fresh trainers like it’s Notting Hill Carnival and chasing girls to get their numbers.”
While he argued there was nothing wrong with sharing memories of happy times in Grenfell Tower he argued it needed to be done in an appropriate and tasteful manner and this was not akin to random passers-by who appeared unmoved by the tragedy nonchalantly taking photos.
“Don’t do it," he said of the selfie-taking. "Residents have had enough of people using it as a tourist attraction. Find a way to help the community if you want to take a few photos or videos that’s not a problem but do not come down like a party scene.”
Increasing numbers of people have expressed their fury at people taking selfies on Twitter, arguing it is a massive sign of “disrespect”.
Natasha Gordon, a Londoner whose friends and family live near the tower, also expressed her anger.
“I know what has happened to Grenfell Tower has upset and hurt a lot of people, however, can I please just say that taking selfies with bottles in your hand is not showing anything, coming to have a street party is not showing us anything!” she wrote on Facebook. “The support shown from thousands of people who have come from all over to help in any way they can has been amazing!”
The west London building was consumed by flames in the early hours of last Wednesday morning in the deadliest blaze to shake the capital since the Second World War and one of Britain’s biggest ever tower block fires.
Police have revealed 79 people are confirmed to be either dead or missing and presumed dead, and the number is expected to increase further. Sorrow and shock has rapidly turned into fury as it has become clear the disaster could have been prevented.
Fears of a cover-up in the wake of the tragedy have been raised, with Labour MP David Lammy calling for urgent action to avoid potential plots to prevent the public from learning the truth about the disaster. The MP for Tottenham issued an impassioned plea for Theresa May to immediately seize all pertinent documents and claimed contractors who dealt with the 24-storey west London building had erased details of their work on the tower from their websites.
