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[Image: A smiling man in glasses and a tie]

Part 25 of a series of posts honoring the Grenfell Tower victims.

Hamid Kani, from the 15th floor of
Grenfell Tower

61-year-old Hamid Kani came from Tehran in Iran. He
journeyed to Britain in the ‘70s, but always planned to move back to Iran one day. He loved cooking and acting, and had played small roles in Iranian plays which were critical of the government. This led to his being blacklisted, preventing him from returning to Iran for a while. He was eventually able to go back there a few times but always returned to Britain and Grenfell Tower. After the fire, he was among the victims found in the room of Raymond “Moses” Bernard.

His family released a statement after his body was identified:

“Hamid will always be remembered for his wit, compassion and devotion to his family and friends.

No words can express our sorrow for his loss and the way he left us.

“He will always be part of our lives and his memory will live on.”

His cousin, Masoud Shahabedin, later told The Guardian about
him and the talks they used to have:

“Every time we’d talk for 50 minutes, we would talk about Iran, our childhood, politics and the things he would read online. He spent a great deal of time on the internet, which was his biggest support.

“He was happy with Grenfell. He had lived there for more than 20 years; his flat gave him peace. He didn’t complain much in his life, he was an easygoing person. He’d live for today. He would give us a sense of
peace, he’d give us his smile and I miss him a lot.”

–

Sources

http://news.met.police.uk/news/grenfell-tower-victim-identified-251233

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/ng-interactive/2018/may/14/lives-of-grenfell-tower-victims-fire

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/live/2018/may/29/grenfell-tower-fire-inquiry-tributes-continue-on-day-six-live

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/05/30/judge-humbled-love-shone-grenfell-fire-tributes/