Muslims observing Ramadan fast ‘saved lives’
Residents eating food before sunrise were able to raise the alarm, eyewitnesses say
LONDON: Muslim residents who were awake and eating Ramadan “suhoor” meals ahead of the daylight fast were among the first to raise the alarm as a fire swept through a UK residential tower early on Wednesday, eyewitnesses told Arab News.
As the fire erupted at the Grenfell Tower in west London — with some saying that alarms failed to sound — Muslims were among the hero residents who saved lives, banging on doors as they exited the building, according to press reports.
Some residents woke sleeping neighbors and guided them to safety as the fire started to take hold, filling corridors with thick smoke, eyewitnesses said.
One Somali man told Arab News that many lives had been saved due to the hours many Muslims keep during Ramadan. “The fast saved a lot of people, as they were... up preparing to eat before sunrise,” he said. “It saved them.”
Safia, a Sudanese mother who lives locally, said that many residents were still awake ahead of the daylight fast.
“People were up… I heard somebody (wanting to rescue) their kids... a Muslim man gave him the key (to the building) to help get the kids,” she told Arab News.
At least 12 people were killed and a further 18 are in critical care following a massive fire that ravaged the high-rise apartment building.
Safia said that many Somalians, Sudanese and Moroccans live in the area. “I lost two family members in there, an elderly lady and children, they are all Muslims,” she said.
The witness also claimed that access to the blazing building was a problem for rescue crews, and raised concerns over the building’s fire-safety standards.
“There was no fire alarm,” she said. “Access is a huge problem… The fire engines can’t break through. My friend called me and said they broke (a) barrier to access (the building).”
Yousif al-Khoei, executive director of the Al-Khoei Foundation in London, told Arab News: “It is quite normal for Muslims to be awake at that time for suhoor, and I think that saved quite a few lives as they were awake.”
One woman identifying herself as Rashida agreed that local Muslims would have still been awake as they observed Ramadan.
“Most Muslims now observing Ramadan will normally not go to bed until about 2 a.m. maybe 2:30 a.m.,” Rashida told Sky News. “Until they have their late night last meal. They do their last prayer.
“So most of the families around here would have been awake and I think even with the noise with the helicopters, it would have brought a lot of attention to a lot of residents, non-Muslim as well, that would have thought something’s going on that’s not quite normal.”
She explained that the west London community, where the vast residential tower is, was “tightly-knit,” like many areas of the British capital, and had a particularly large Moroccan population.
“It’s a very diverse area, we have all nationalities, all religions… We all live peacefully among each other, there is not much crime higher than anywhere else,” she explained.
Rashida said people were generally able to walk around safely late at night, because “we all know each other.”