Tears flow on emotional first day of evidence

Grief hung heavy in the air on the first day of the Grenfell Tower inquiry.

Six people – some in their later years, some unborn, but all bound by the same terrible fate – were honoured over the course of several hours by their loved ones.

Tears were fought back as the bereaved took to the stage one by one to give their presentations. The searing honesty they displayed elicited a similar response from their audience.

It was clear many were still trying to make sense of the night that cast a long shadow across their lives nearly a year ago.

The tone for the first day of official hearings was set early on by counsel to the inquiry Bernard Richmond QC, who said: “It is going to be a very emotional six days. I cannot promise I will not find it emotional and I’m not going to be ashamed if I do find it upsetting.”

Then began the first of the personal portraits, the pain of which swallowed the vast hearing room at the Millennium Gloucester Hotel, South Kensington.

But the lack of words at times delivered more of a hammer blow to those watching than the tributes themselves.

Marcio Gomes, dignified father to stillborn baby Logan Gomes, delivered a presentation bursting with love, but punctuated by gut-wrenching sadness. He was overcome as he saw the ultrasound image of his unborn son on the hearing’s screen.

Throughout the day, the words of each family took different forms and struck different tones, but the darkness always lingered behind the memories.

Those in attendance were left looking drained as chairman Sir Martin MooreBick wrapped up proceedings.

Tributes enter their second day today when the inquiry will hear from five more families, alongside further memories from relatives of mother and daughter Mary Mendy and Khadija Saye.

The fire claimed 72 lives.