TOWER INFERNO HORROR PRINCE’S TENDER EMBRACE Protocol Shock as Focus on for royals police give refurb as forgotten as estimate of Yard checks Wills hugs 58 deaths for crimes
A HEARTBROKEN woman sobs in Prince William’s arms in an extraordinary image that captures the nation’s mood.
Her head resting on his chest, she clings to the future King after he arrived to meet victims of the Grenfell Tower inferno.
Our remarkable picture shows William displaying the compassion that Theresa May failed to offer victims when she visited the scene.
Hugging a member of the public is normally against royal protocol but William was too moved by the woman’s plight to stick to rules.
He instinctively wrapped his arms around heartbroken Fatima Jafari, 78, in a moving display of unity.
The emotional scene took place during Friday’s visit by the Queen and Prince to an emergency shelter caring for survivors of the blaze.
Fatima’s husband Ali Yawra Jafari, 82, has not been seen since being trapped in a lift as he tried to escape. Royal compassion was revealed as: Police announced that 58 people were feared dead.
Mrs May met blaze victims at Downing Street as nearby protesters shouted for her to resign.
The Queen said Britain was in “a very sombre mood” but should be “resolute in the face of adversity”.
Fears were raised for the structural safety of Grenfell Tower as Tube lines were closed to prevent travellers being hit by falling debris.
Yesterday Fatima’s daughter Maria broke down as she told of her guilt at not managing to save her father.
Struggling
Maria, 38, said she left him sleeping in their 11th floor flat while she and her mother went outside to find out how serious the fire was.
But within seconds of going outside, flames took hold of the building and engulfed their home.
Terrified for her sister Nadia, 28, and father, Ali, Maria gave firefighters her keys and begged them to rescue her loved ones.
Ten minutes later Nadia stumbled out the building, struggling to breathe. But their father never followed. Maria said: “Nadia told me she and my father had got stuck in the lift on the 10th floor.
“She couldn’t breathe and couldn’t see anything because the smoke was so thick. She was holding our father’s hand but someone carried her out and she lost him.
“We have gone to all the hospitals looking for him but he isn’t there.”
A family friend said Ali’s wife Fatima “hasn’t stopped crying since”.
“She was at the shelter when Prince William and the Queen visited. The prince saw her crying and went over to comfort her. He was amazing.
“A council worker explained to him what had happened to her husband and he told Fatima he would do everything he could to find him.
“The visit meant everything to her. I think it has given her strength to carry on. She keeps saying, ‘I am nobody but the Queen and future King of this country came to see me. They really, really care.’”
Ali, who also has three sons, was a jewellery maker in war- torn Afghanistan before the family fled to Britain about 20 years ago. Maria spoke of her anger that concerns over fire safety were not addressed.
She said. “My neighbour said three months ago, ‘They are planning for our deaths’ and he was right.”
Met Police Commander Stuart Cundy yesterday confirmed his officers had reached the top of the tower as part of a “phased” visual search.
But he said it could take weeks to trace all those missing.
He said: “There are 58 people we have been told were in Grenfell Tower on the night that are missing and, sadly, I have to presume are dead. That number may change. There may be other people who were in there on the night but others may not have been aware were there.”
He said they had dealt with 6,000 calls and were making “exhaustive investigation to find answers” for heartbroken families.
He confirmed the £ 8.6million refurbishment of the 24-storey tower block would form a specific focus of Scotland Yard’s criminal probe.
He said: “Our priority is to now bring out those who are still in there. We have colleagues in there as we speak, searching for and recovering those who have died. The reason we had to pause the search yesterday was for the safety of our staff. “We do not want another fatality arising out of this tragedy.” In her birthday message yesterday, the Queen, 91, said it was “difficult to escape a very sombre mood” in Britain which was “united in sadness” after suffering in London and Manchester. She said: “In recent months, the country has witnessed a succession of terrible tragedies. “During visits in Manchester and London I have been profoundly struck by t he immediate inclination of people throughout the country to offer comfort and support to those in desperate need.” After a two and a half hour meeting with Mrs May at No10 yesterday, Grenfell Tower residents said they will make a full statement “within community” and outline their demands. Nearby protesters outside Downing Street called for Mrs May to step down.
Two Tube l i nes were partly suspended over fears passengers could be hit by falling debris from the tower. The Fire Brigade said there was a “temporary risk” to commuters walking into the nearby stops and waiting at platforms.
Tottenham Labour MP David Lammy urged Met Pol i c e Commissioner Cressida Dick to use the “very best senior officers” in her force for the investigation.
He also demanded that the scope of the police investigation would not be hampered by the public inquiry announced on Friday.
He told her: “An investigation on this scale will require a huge amount of resources and a considerable period of time to ascertain what caused this blaze and how the blaze spread with such speed and ferocity, killing and injuring an increasingly large number of people.”
Police have been urged to say if more funding and support is needed to criminally investigate the fire.