Trapped children scrawled ‘help’ on blackened windows
TERRIFIED children wrote “Help” on ash-stained windows at the top of Grenfell Tower as flames ripped through the building, an eyewitness revealed yesterday.
Anne Johnson, who lives nearby, said she was woken during the night by screaming and saw “over 25 people dying in front of my own eyes”.
In harrowing testimony, Ms Johnson said those waiting helplessly below were forced to watch on as youngsters begged for their lives.
It is feared more than 100 people died in the west London inferno and Ms Johnson said she expects the number of those who died to increase significantly.
She said: “I could see kids on top of the building; about six kids all together alone. They were crying for help and writing ‘Help’ on the windows.
“Two kids on the right-hand side on the corner were screaming.
“Nobody could get to them. Nobody could help these children on the very, very top.”
She added: “I saw the whole building turn black with smoke with the children still inside and then you never heard those children again.
“I saw women and men flashing phones, flashing everything – their hands, T-shirts, anything to say, ‘We’re here.’
“Within two-and-a-half hours that building melted. I must have seen over 25 people dying in front of my own eyes.”
Yesterday the second victim of the disaster was named as 24-year-old artist Khadija Saye.
Ms Saye was in her flat on the 20th floor of Grenfell Tower with her mother Mary Mendy, who is thought to be in her 50s.
Tottenham MP David Lammy confirmed the news on Twitter, writing: “May you rest in peace Khadija Saye.
“God bless your beautiful soul. My heart breaks today. I mourn the tragic loss of a wonderful young woman.”
Syrian refugee Mohammed Alhajali, 23, was also killed in the fire.
And friends of popular resident Raymond “Moses” Bernard say that any hope of finding him alive is now ebbing away.
The 63-year-old often stayed with his partner, Karen McMillan, who lives on a different floor of the tower block. However, on Wednesday night Firemen climb to tower roof yesterday he decided to stay in his own flat on the top floor with the dog the couple shared, a King Charles spaniel named Marley.
“There’s no way he would have left the dog,” said one resident, known as Trish. “The dog was like their child.”
Mr Bernard was reportedly a popular character in the area, often seen out walking Marley.
But Mr Bernard walked with the aid of a stick and suffered from a number of health issues, causing friends to worry for his ability to get down the building’s smoke-filled stairwell from the top floor.
Trish added: “He was always telling people to be good to each other and it’s devastating to think anything bad could have happened.”
The fire is believed to have been caused by a faulty fridge in one of the flats.