Brother’s agony as sister fades away in phonecall

A young woman was killed in the Grenfell Tower fire just hours before she was due to attend an interview for her “dream job”, an inquiry has heard.

Mariem Elgwahry, 27, was described as a familyfocused professional who never backed down from a challenge.

Her brother, Ahmed Elgwahry, said: “She worked hard in her career and it was paying off. On June 15 she was due to have an interview for her dream job with a reputable brand company.”

But the interview would never go ahead.

Instead, his sister forfeited her own chance to escape the blaze so she could stay with her mother, Eslah Elgwahry, 64, who was not well enough to flee.

She stayed on the phone to Ahmed throughout her ordeal.

Mr Elgwahry told the inquiry: “On my final call with Mariem, despite her suffering, despite her gradual deterioration, despite her gradual loss of consciousness, she persisted in letting me know that she was still

“She started to mumble, started banging the floor”

there. She started fading away from me rather rapidly, but she kept going all the way until she was no longer audible. She started to mumble, started banging the floor, and then finally no longer responsive. It was at this point I presumed I lost my mum at the same time. But then about 20 seconds later, for the first time that early morning, I heard my mum’s voice.

“She was struggling for breath, and said her last words: ‘I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe’. That was the last time I heard her voice.”

He disconnected the call more than an hour after their final moments, he said. All he could hear was the crackle of fire.

Months later, only fragments of their bodies were recovered.

Mariem Elgwahry died in the fire alongside her mother