‘Please pray we don’t have a painful death’
MEMBERS of a family of five all feared dead told relatives on the phone: ‘There is no way for us to escape now. Pray that we don’t have a painful death.’
The heartbreaking conversation took place shortly before 2.30am as the Miah family sheltered from smoke and flames in the bathroom of their 17th-floor flat.
Shortly afterwards, phones belonging to the Bangladeshi family fell silent.
Details emerged yesterday as relatives told how they had received increasingly desperate calls from their loves ones.
One of the family, Hosna Begum Tanima, 22, was due to get married and her siblings and parents had been busy shopping and preparing for her big day on July 29.
As well as Miss Tanima, her elderly father, Komru Miah, 82, and mother Razia Begum, 65, and two brothers, Abdul Hanif, 29, and Abdul Hamid, 26, are all feared to have lost their lives. They are believed to have moved in to Grenfell Tower a year ago.
Another son, Mohammed Abdul Hakim, lives nearby with his wife and children.
All week, leaflets carrying the Miah family’s pictures with appeals for information were plastered on walls around the streets of North Kensington, and pictures were posted on social media sites. Mr Miah’s nephew Abdul Rahim, who lives in Chelsea, told of the family’s grief. He said he spoke to Miss Tanima at about 2.30am on the phone, as she and the rest of the family huddled in the bathroom to escape the fire.
Mr Rahim said: ‘Her desperate prayers are still ringing in my ears. She said, “We are all in the bathroom now, and there is no way for us to escape now. Pray that we don’t have a painful death”.’
Mr Rahim said all his five relatives’ phones went silent shortly after that conversation.
Yesterday Abdul Khan, 60, another cousin of Miss Tanima, spoke of his grief.
The cab driver, who has lived in the UK for 35 years, said: ‘I’ve been very down and very sad, not only for our relatives but for every missing person.
‘Hosna was born and raised here. She was very active, very helpful and a very loved young lady by the whole family.
‘The last time I saw her, all she could talk about was the wedding – everything was arranged, all the invitations were sent. She was looking forward to it, getting married to the person that she loves.
‘They were planning a wedding with more than 1,000 guests. Everybody was looking forward to the wedding day, but now everything is turned upside down.’