Tower inferno witness:
Following the devastating fire that ripped through a London tower block last week, Closer talks to survivors, witnesses and the inspirational heroes who faced unimaginable horrors
“Those screams for help will haunt me forever”
The charred shell T of Grenfell Tower looms on the west London skyline – the 24-storey building used to be home to around 600 people. Now the blackened ruin is a stark reminder of the worst residential disaster in the UK for 30 years.
The blaze started just before 1am last Wednesday and was believed to have been caused by a faulty fridge in a fourth floor flat. ❛ Horrifically, it took just 30 minutes for the whole building to be engulfed by flames.
DOZENS MISSING
Terrified residents were told to “stay put” and wait to be rescued according to fire action plan signs, but as the inferno raged, witnesses described traumatic scenes, with desperate parents throwing children out of highrise windows to escape. One eyewitness says she saw a baby being thrown from the ninth floor, which was amazingly caught by a member of the public below. While the official death toll stood at 17 as Closer went to press, dozens were still missing and emergency services warned there will be many more, with “hundreds” of lives possibly lost. It was feared that nobody living on the top three floors managed to make it out alive.
London Fire Commissioner Dany Cotton said it’s the worst fire she’s seen in 29 years of firefighting, adding that there were still “unknown numbers” of victims inside. Meanwhile, at the time of writing, 78 people had been taken to hospital, with 18 in a life-threatening condition.
In nearby churches, mosques and community centres, stunned survivors and witnesses huddled together, unable to take in the scale of the tragedy that was unfolding on their doorstep, and desperately waiting for news of loved ones.
Sitting in St Clement’s Church, just yards from the tower, Vergalem Mussie, 35, fought to hold back tears as she told Closer about a friend’s devastating plight.
CONFUSION
She says: “My friend Conjit has lost her son. She was on the 18th floor of the building, she has a small baby and carried the baby downstairs thinking her husband had their five-year-old son. But he didn’t. There was so much confusion and chaos – she told me she couldn’t see more than a few inches in front of her because of the smoke. Now her husband and baby are in hospital, and she’s been walking around all the community centres, calling all the hospitals looking for her son. She can’t stop crying. My son is friends with her son, it’s terrible. He’s probably dead, but how do you face that?”
Vergalem lives just opposite the Grenfell Tower and was evacuated from her
flat.flat. Sheshe recalls:recalls: ““Wewe werewere wokenwoken upup byby thethe ❜ fire.fire. II heardheard screamsscreams andand sawsaw peoplepeople flashing their phones trying to attract attention.”
She adds: “There were families standing at the windows. I was shouting up to them: “leave, leave,” – there was time for them to get out at the beginning. Knowing they were told to stay put and to wait for help that didn’t come is the most disturbing thing. We saw children throwing themselves from the windows.”
ANXIOUS WAIT
In the nearby Westway Sports Centre, which became a makeshift refuge centre for those affected, Closer spoke to Jasmine Kahawey, 31, an events organiser, and her boyfriend Adam Bouharrate, 31, who anxiously checked their phones for news of friends.
Jasmine says: “We live near Grenfell Tower and were evacuated. We watched the fire start – it was so quick. I heard screams, so many screams. I’ll be haunted by them forever.
Knowing They waited for help That didn’t come is The most disturbing Thing
I can’t sleep. There were innocent people in there and they died and I couldn’t help them. It should never have happened. “My friend Mariem Elgwahry lived on the 19th floor with her mum Suhar, who was talking to a mutual friend’s mum on the phone after the fire took hold and said they’d been told to stay put. No one has heard from them since. I’ve known Mariem since we were children and went to Arabic school together. She was so beautiful inside and out and now I think she’s gone. It’s just unbelievable.”
PREVIOUS WARNINGS
She adds: “My best friend used to live there. From my flat just across the way we’d signal to each other with torches late at night. It makes me shudder now to think of that. The other night I was watching people signal with the lights of their mobile phones, but it wasn’t a fun game, it was people calling for help to save their lives. I can’t bear it.”
As investigations continued into the cause of the fire and the speed with which it spread, it emerged that worried residents had warned of the dangers and that it was a “disaster waiting to happen.” The Grenfell Action Group wrote in a blog last November: “We believe only a catastrophic event will expose the ineptitude and incompetence of our landlord, the KCTMO [Kensington and Chelsea Tenancy Management Organisation], and bring an end to the dangerous conditions and neglect of health and safety legislation that they inflict upon their tenants and leaseholders.”
Blame for the fire spreading so quickly has focused on metal and polystyrene cladding fitted to the outside of the building in a recent £10m refurbishment for cosmetic and insulation purposes. However Rydon, the company that undertook the work, released a statement saying the work they did met all building safety standards. Questions were also raised over a lack of fire alarms and sprinkler systems in the building.