Going against the crowds saved us

RESIDENT Larry Castro revealed how his life was saved because he went in the opposite direction to crowds of panicking victims.

The 60-year-old barman, who has lived in the block for 26 years, had recently moved three floors higher to the 17th.

The Filipino hotel worker, right, said: “I was asleep with my girlfriend when the smoke alarm started ringing. I didn’t even have any shoes on when we got out, but I knew we had to move fast.”

On their way down, they saw numerous people coming from below. He said: “I kept telling them to carry on, but they must have thought the fire department would get to them.”

He lays the blame for the inferno on the refit, saying: “This is all down to that bloody plastic they put on the building.”