By Catarina Demony
LONDON, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Family members of those who died in London's 2017 Grenfell Tower fire called on Thursday for the government to preserve sections of its stairwell walls bearing handprints they believe belong to victims or survivors.
A fire ripped through the 24-storey social housing block in one of London's wealthiest areas early on June 14, 2017, killing 72 people. Deconstruction of the tower began in September last year and is expected to take two years.
A photograph shared with Reuters shows a smoke- and fire-blackened wall in a hallway on one of the floors, bearing at least three visible handprints. An Arabic inscription reading "Allahu Akbar" ("God is greatest") was also found on a different floor. Handprints were also found in another stairwell.
"These sections on the walls in the stairwell hold the voices of that night - and we will not let them be erased, silenced, or this tragedy be sanitised," said Karim Khalloufi, who lost his sister in the fire.
The families have filed a pre-action letter to the government to try to bring a judicial review, where a judge would examine the lawfulness of a public body's decision or action.
They argue that former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner had, in 2025, promised that parts of the tower could be preserved for a memorial if the community wanted it.
Grenfell Next of Kin, which advocates for immediate families of over half of the deceased, called for the government to preserve these sections to allow time for discussions with the families and memorial designers.
Lawyers acting on behalf of the families say the government has said it will not preserve anything above the ninth floor due to the sensitivity and loss of life. Both the handprints and the inscription were found above this level.
A spokesperson for MHCLG said the government was committed to "ensuring what happened at the tower is remembered, with the community's voice at the heart of our work", adding that work to take it down was being carefully handled with those affected.
(Reporting by Catarina Demony; editing by Sharon Singleton)
