Tribute by girl of nine brings the Grenfell probe to tears
A GIRL of nine reduced the Grenfell Tower inquiry to tears yesterday as she paid poignant tribute to her eight-year-old cousin. Sara Chebiouni, who also lived in the tower block, told how much she missed playing with Mehdi El Wahabi, who was killed in the fire alongside his parents and his older brother and sister Yasin, 20, and 15-year-old Nur Huda.
The schoolgirl showed remarkable composure as she recalled playing with Mehdi and other children on the landing of the 21st floor, where he lived, before the blaze. Sara, the youngest child to give evidence so far, said: ‘We used to have so much fun.
‘The 21st floor was so much more fun and child-friendly than the ninth floor, where I lived... It’s difficult knowing Mehdi will never play with us ever again.’
Seven children from three different families were commemorated yesterday in a day of raw emotion.
Sara and other relatives then comforted 13-year-old Mariam El Wahabi as she broke down before she could give her tribute to her cousin Nur Huda El Wahabi, killed just two weeks before her 16th birthday.
Mariam said she had heroworshipped her cousin ‘like a big sisreally ter’, saying: ‘We all wanted to be like her. We soon came to the realisation it was impossible to be like her – she was too unique.’
She fought back tears as she said: ‘The indescribable pain I have felt since you were taken from this world will never go away.’
‘I will continue to look for her rays of sunshine through the clouds gathering ahead.’
Inquiry chairman Sir Martin Moore-Bick praised both girls for their bravery in giving evidence, saying: ‘ Thank you very much, that took some courage and it was a lovely tribute.’ GCSE pupil Nur Huda, her brother Yasin, who was studying accountancy at Greenwich University, and Mehdi all lived with their Moroccan- born parents Abdulaziz, 52, a hospital porter, and 42-year-old Faouzia.
Mr El Wahabi’s brother Hamed said his family had struggled to cope with losing so many relatives in the fire, and said one of the hardest moments had been telling his mother ‘the heartbreaking news of what had happened to such a wonderful family’.
The inquiry also heard tributes to 12-year-old Jessica Urbano Ramirez, who died in the fire two weeks before her 13th birthday.
In a video her father Ramiro Urbano said: ‘There are no words to describe the feelings of emptiness inside us all.
‘It’s only the people in the same circumstances as us that can understand this pain. We will have to live with not having her around for the rest of our lives.’
Tributes were also paid to Ligaya Moore, 78, Steve Power, 63, Vincent Chiejina, 60, and 52-year-old Khadija Khaloufi.
The first two weeks of the inquiry have been dedicated to evidence from grieving families who have paid tribute to the 72 men, women and children killed in the worst fire in Britain since the Second World War.
‘I’ll look for her rays of sunshine’