‘I knew one mistake would be fatal’ – Grenfell survivor tells of escape
ONE OF the last survivors to escape the Grenfell Tower fire told a public inquiry he did not realise how serious the blaze was until he received a photo of the burning tower from his son outside.
Antonio Roncolato, the first survivor to give evidence to the public inquiry into the West London blaze, said he was asleep in his 10th floor flat when he woke up to a call from his son Christopher at 1.40am.
In his written statement, he said that although he was shocked at what was happening, he “did not feel in too much danger” as he could not see the “magnitude of the fire”.
He made an initial attempt to leave the flat, but thick black smoke billowed into his face when he opened the front door.
After receiving the photograph of the building engulfed in orange flames from his son by around 2am, Mr Roncolato said he then realised the importance of getting out. His written statement said: “I was stunned at this photo and how advanced the fire appeared to be. I then really started to focus on how to get out of the tower alive. I knew that one mistake would be fatal.”
The former resident described getting dressed and packing his rucksack with his laptop, passports and documents before his first attempt to leave his flat.
His statement said: “The entire communal landing was full of smoke and I could not see anything. The smoke was very smelly and hot. It was suffocating.”
“I immediately closed my front door again and pulled the chain across to lock it.”
When describing this to the inquiry, he said: “You cannot see, you cannot breathe, you lose your bearing.”
Some 72 people died in the blaze on June 14 last year, with a further resident dying in January.
Mr Roncolato’s evidence begins a month of statements from survivors, relatives and friends of those who died, at Holborn Bars in Central London.