Blame claim on death of brother

A Syrian refugee has accused a firefighter of trying to shift blame on to him after his brother was accidentally left to die in Grenfell Tower.

Omar al Haj Ali, who arrived in the UK with his brother, Mohammad, in 2014, had been on the 14th floor of the west London block on June 14 last year.

They had lived in flat 112 since September 2016, but on the night of the fire, the brothers and their neighbours sought shelter in flat 113.

When firefighters came to rescue the eight residents, only four escaped, while the four others, including Mohammad, were left behind. Mohammad jumped to his death from a window after the other three victims had fallen unconscious.

Firefighter Peter Herrera led the four tenants from the smokefilled property and previously claimed Mr al-Haj Ali assured him no one was left in the flat.

But, giving evidence to the Grenfell Tower inquiry yesterday, Mr Ali dismissed his account.