SILENCE FOR THE DEAD
nowhere to be seen. Steve Power, who died in there, had continually badgered them about safety issues concerning gas and electricity but they just closed him down. Now he’s dead.”
Steven watched last Wednesday’s horror unfold from his flat just 50 yards away from Grenfell Tower.
He said: “I saw a girl at the window, then the flames rose and her lights went out.
“I saw body bags being carried out. I’ve got tents outside my kitchen window with body bags in. I’m suffering. We’re all suffering.
“But where is our landlord? That’s what everyone is asking. Where’s the council’s housing officers?
“We need reassurance. If that tower comes down – and part of it looks unstable – we won’t be safe.
“When all people get is silence, they believe a cover-up has started.”
Yards from where we talk, a wall has two signs stuck to it, one saying, “WE WANT ANSWERS”, above a list of Kensington councillors and executive officers. The other says: “Prepare for a long period of buck-passing.”
On the streets and in the cafes, angry locals talk of the need for arrests and manslaughter charges.
They echo London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s belief that the disaster was caused by “years of neglect” by a wealthy council.
From a distance, St Clement Church looks like it’s in the middle of a refuse strike as piles of black bin bags are dumped outside.
On closer inspection, they’re stuffed with blankets, toys and clothes, even though there’s a sign saying: “We are unable to take any more donations.”
They’re bags of love – a testament to the solidarity of individuals on the ground, if not of those in power.
Johnny Regasa, 39, was one of the first helpers to arrive at the scene in the early hours of last Wednesday.
His friend Hashim Kedir lived on floor 22 with his wife and three children, so he rang to make sure they were getting out. Hashim told him they’d been advised to stay put. A few hours later, he rang Johnny to say: “My daughter’s on fire.”
Johnny advised him to throw water on his loved ones’ clothes but Hashim told him that water wasn’t coming from the taps. Then the phone went dead. All five were lost.
Johnny, who helped rescue residents including a little boy, is now so deeply traumatised that he can’t go to work.
He breaks down as he recalls that awful night, saying: “I wish I’d died in there. I really wish I had.”
All you can do is put your arm around him. What a criminal insult that those in authority can’t come down here and do the same. ● A FAMILY of five presumed to have died in the Grenfell Tower blaze have been found alive.
The Khudairs, who have three adult daughters, came to Britain for a better life after fleeing the war in Syria.
They were reported missing by a tutor who was teaching them English but one of the daughters is said to have revealed on Facebook that they are all safe.