FRANTIC SEARCH
12 dead, many missing, 18 critical
THREE generations of the same family are feared to have died in their flat in the Grenfell Tower inferno.
The daughter of teaching assistant Nadia Choucair rang her best friend in the early hours and said: “We’re not going to make it. I love you.”
Nadia, her husband, their three daughters and the girls’ grandmother have all been missing since the blaze.
Police said 12 people died in the fire but eyewitnesses reported seeing “many more” bodies at the scene.
A resident said nobody has been able to contact Nadia or her five family members.
The woman, who gave her name as Hulya, said: “It’s just awful, absolutely devastating.
“One of the daughters rang her friend, saying they weren’t going to make it and that she loved her. She’s about 13 I think.
“There are three daughters – one is about two, I think, the other is at primary school and the other at secondary school.
“The mum is a teaching assistant at my children’s school – everybody loves her.
“She lived there with her mum and her husband.”
Hulya, 42, accused the landlords of the tower block of having “blood on their hands”.
She said: “Somebody has to take responsibility for this. The number of casualties didn’t have to be this high.”
A family of seven who were living on the 18th floor were also among the missing.
Amina Hassan, 48, said the family had were trapped inside their flat at the height of the firee.
She added there were “far more” victims than police had confirmed.
Fouzia and Aziz El Wahabi and their three children, Nurhouda, Yassin and Mehdi, also remained missing last night.
Aziz’s sister Hana Wahabi, 39, said she had been unable to contact her brother since the blaze.
She added: “They live on the 21st floor. I rang him and the fire had not reached the top of the block at that point.
“He said he had been told to stay inside, stay in one room together and put towels under the door.
“I told him to leave. He said he was going to come. Then I called him and he said there was too much smoke.
“The last time I saw him they were waving out the window, his wife and children.
“The last time I spoke to his wife, he was on the phone to the fire brigade.
“I’ve not heard from them since, the phone is not going through, the landline isn’t going through.”
Ahmed Chellat, 60, was also desperately waiting for news of the El Wahabi family.
He said he was on the phone to his sister-in- law Fouzia, telling her: “Get out, get out.” He added: “She said they had been told to stick towels under the door and stay inside and wait to be rescued. “She said, ‘Smoke is coming through, it is coming under the doors,’ and then I got cut off. “That is the last time I heard from her. “Aziz’s sister on the ninth floor was evacuated and she told firefighters that the family were on the 21st floor.” Another family of five are FEARS Jessica Urbano, 12 feared to have perished in their flat on the top floor of the block.
Locals said a couple and three of their four children had not been heard from.
Yasmin Bayoudi, 17, said the surviving brother was injured while escaping the fire and had tried in vain to contact his loved ones.
The teenager added: “His whole family were on the top floor and nobody could get hold of them. His mum, dad, two brothers and sister.”
A mum of two who was trapped at the top of the tower sent a friend a Snapchat message as the fire moved up the building.
Along with a harrowing video, Ranya Ibrahim wrote the words: “Forgive me everyone. Goodbye.” The 30-year-old hasn’t been seen since sending the message at 2.54am.
Her friend Maseen said: “She lives on the top floor with her two children, who are just three and five.
“I received a Snapchat video from Ranya just after the fire started and I haven’t heard from her since.”
Genet Shawo was searching for her five-year-old son after they got separated inside the tower.
She hadn’t seen Isaac Paulos since they lost each other in the thick smoke on the 18th floor.
Mum-of-two Genet said: “We were on the 18th floor. The smoke was so thick, we couldn’t see.
“A neighbour took Isaac’s hand and I had my other son Lucas – he’s three.
“We went down the stairs but when we got outside Isaac wasn’t there.
“I saw the neighbour and said, ‘Where’s my son?’ and he said he’d left him.”
Another missing resident, Jessica Urbano, 12, lives on the 20th floor with her mum and older sister.
Her aunt Sandra Ruiz said: “She was with a group of people in the fire escape, in the fire stairs.
“My sister-in-law was just coming back from work, as was my older niece.
“Jessica called her to say this has happened. She was only a few minutes away.
“That’s the last they heard of
her. She will be 13 next month. We are desperately worried.”
Mariem Elgwahry, 27, and her mother Eslah, 64, who lived on the 19th floor, have not been seen since the tragedy.
Other victims are believed to include Khadija Saye, 24, and her mum Mary, who lived on the 20th floor.
Tottenham MP David Lammy, a friend of the family, pled for information on social media.
Khadija posted a message on Facebook at 3am, writing: “Please pray for me, there’s a fire in my council block.”
The artist added: “I can’t leave the flat. Please pray for me and my mum.”
Saber Neda, who lived in a top-floor flat, is also feared to be dead after the massive blaze. He stayed behind inside the property after urging his wife Shakila, 45, and son Farhad, 24, to flee.
Pensioner Ali Yawar Jafari, 82, has not been seen since he was separated from his wife and daughter when he got out of a lift on the 10th floor because he was struggling to breathe.
His son Hamid said: “He was with my mother and sister in the lift.
“She said the lift stopped on the 10th floor and he said there was too much smoke and he couldn’t breathe.
“He got out of the lift and then the doors shut and it didn’t stop again till the ground floor.”
Another pensioner, Abdel Salam, 75, is feared to be among the victims after he rang his sons telling them: “I can’t
breathe.” A mother of three who also lived on the 23rd floor is another resident who is missing.
Nura Jamal, whose two sons aged six and 11 are also feared dead, rang a friend at 2am and said: “Forgive me, the fire is here, I’m dying.”
A pal said: “I just hope she escaped. I’ve cried, everyone has cried. This will devastate everyone in the local area.”
Zainab Dean and her two-year-old son Jeremiah are also missing.
Francis Dean, 47, said his sister told him on the phone she had been told to stay in her 14th floor flat with her toddler.
He added: “My sister called me to say there was a fire in the tower.
“I told her to leave by the stairs but she said she had been told to stay inside her flat.” He added a firefighter borrowed his phone to speak to Zainab.
Francis said: “He told her to keep calm and that they were coming to get her. He kept saying that.
“But then he handed me the phone and said to me, ‘Tell her you love her.’ I knew then to fear the worst. “The phone went dead and I couldn’t talk to her.”
Steven Pile, who lived on the 12th floor, remained unaccounted for last night. His friend Elvis Burke, 50, said: “He rescued his niece but he stayed to save his dogs.”
Italian couple Gloria Trevisan and Marco Gottardi, both 27, were also on the missing list. The pair, from Venice, had been in London for three months and Gloria was due to return to Italy today. They were living on the 23rd floor.
Marco’s father Giannino said he called his son when he heard about the fire. He said: “He played down the incident, I think to reassure us.
“At the last contact, he told us that their apartment was flooded by smoke and it was an emergency. Then nothing. We hope for a miracle.”
Others believed to have been caught up in the blaze who have not been heard from include Sheila Smith, 84, Raymond Bernard, 65, Mo Tucco and Hesham El-Raaman, 57.