Hero tells of kids’ screams

A GRENFELL Tower fireman told of the moment a little boy said, “My brother’s dead” as he was rescued from the burning building,

Shaken Damian Magee said the youngster, who was about five, made the horrifying revelation when asked if there was anyone else in his wrecked flat.

Damian, crew manager at Whitechapel Fire Station in east London, said: “He seemed okay, very calm. We asked him, ‘We need to know what number flat were you in? Is there anyone else in that flat?’” “And he turned around and looked at me and said: “My brother, but he’s dead”.’

Damian was among hundreds of emergency service personnel who raced to the burning west London tower block in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

He said the blaze was the worst he had ever seen, adding: “We heard the children screaming.

“I can remember one kid’s voice that was sticking out, higher pitched than all the others. Screaming, screaming for help.

“They probably had some sort of hope when they saw us firefighters down there, for us to get in and help them.” Meanwhile, London Fire Commissioner Dany Cotton told how the horrific blaze reduced even her most hardened firefighters to tears.

Dany said: “For my crews who were on the ground, who witnessed it happening, it was truly horrible and shocking.

“I spoke to one of my officers who was very near when someone came out of the window. He was in tears.

“People were absolutely devastated by the events.”