British government confirms destruction of London's Grenfell Tower after deadly fire

"Grenfell Tower will be carefully dismantled," an operation that should take "around two years," the government said in a statement, justifying the decision for security reasons.

The 24-story building "remains stable thanks to protective measures, but (...) it will continue to deteriorate over time," he explained.

On June 14, 2017, fire ravaged this tower block occupied by generally modest families, in an upscale district of London, during the worst residential fire in Great Britain since the Second World War.

The fire took less than half an hour to spread throughout the building due to highly combustible façade cladding.

During the dismantling, some of the materials will be kept to build a memorial at the site of the disaster, the government said. The work will not start until after the eighth anniversary of the fire, on June 14, 2025.

The decision on the future of the tower, which has been debated for several years, was announced to families on Wednesday evening at a public meeting by Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, who is responsible for housing.

A victims' organisation, Grenfell United, which wants the tower to remain, has denounced the decision as "shameful" and "unforgivable", saying their views had not been listened to.

She also claims that Angela Rayner "failed to justify the decision" to demolish the tower, which now bears a giant message: "Grenfell, forever in our hearts".

In early September, an inquiry report concluded that the fire was the result of "decades of failure" by the government and the construction industry, and said all the deaths could have been avoided.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer apologised "on behalf of the British state".