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Episode details

World Service,29 Jun 2017,48 mins

Deadly Tower Block Fires

The Thought Show

Available for over a year

Grenfell Tower, a residential block in London, made headlines around the world when at least 79 people died there in a fire while many are still missing. But how unusual are such lethal fires? Are tower blocks really dangerous? Or are they safer than houses? We investigate some of the fake victim images which appear online in the wake of deadly attacks and disasters. Who are the victims and perpetrators, and why are these images circulated? Why do foreign migrants yearn to go home and what happens when they do? Some have had no choice, but others are influenced by nostalgia for their early lives. When they go back, can the old country live up to their hopes and dreams? Shivaani Kohok hears emotional tales from those returning to Jamaica, Sierra Leone, India and Ghana. (Photo: Smoke rises from the 24 story Grenfell Tower in West London. Photo: Leon Neal/Getty images)

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