'They’re putting profit over people' - survivor of London’s Grenfell Tower fire travelling the world, fighting for justice

May 3, 2019

Nicholas Burton is travelling the world to raise awareness for the issues that amounted to the tragedy in 2017. (Source: Other)

He survived  London's Grenfell Tower fire  in 2017, now Nicholas Burton is travelling to world to raise awareness in the hopes the tragedy never happens again.

The fire in 2017 killed 72 people, including Mr Burton's wife.

After the tragedy he "needed to get away", so embarked on a mission to travel the world, talking to firefighters about what they do and hoping to raise awareness about the issues which amounted to the deadly blaze.

In New Zealand, and speaking with TVNZ1's Breakfast today, Mr Burton recounted his experience being rescued by firefighters from the 19th floor of the tower.

People in the tower warned councils and authorities who approved the dangerous refurbishments on the Tower, but they didn't listen, he said.

"On that night, what could've went wrong, went wrong," he said, saying it couldn't be written as a believable script.

"So we only had one stairwell and that was full of smoke, no sprinkler systems that, you know, could've helped us, the fire alarm system didn't work, the smoke extractor system didn't work, the lift didn't work, the doors were illegal," he said.

Mr Burton said his personal goal was to fight for justice for the people who have passed, the bereaved families and community.

"Justice for me is an individual thing and I just want to make sure that this doesn't happen again," he said. "Big corporations, property developers, they're putting profit over people."

Buildings around the world are still using the cladding which went up in flames at Grenfell Tower so he wanted to raise awareness on its dangers, he said.

Auckland Council says NZ's strict fire prevention and safety regulations mean none of the buildings here would be considered dangerous. (Source: Other)

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