grenfell

[Image 1: A blurry picture of a black woman in a purple hijab, smiling]

Part 17 of a series of posts honoring the Grenfell Tower victims.

The Elsanosi -Ahmed family, from the 23rd floor of
Grenfell Tower

Fathia Ali Ahmed Elsanosi, 77 years old, was a primary school teacher who came to Britain as a refugee after her husband was killed in Sudan in the ‘80s. She was a loving and hard-working mother who was well-known among the Sudanese community in London, and was a very artistic person, creating her own Sudanese thobes and upcycling old clothes. She packed her flat with art, antiques and plants.

Her friend Wafa said at the inquiry,

“She was creative at sewing and it was a source of income for her… She could stitch material to make beautiful saris. She would also create things from leather and decorate plain shoes and handbags with leather items she had made.”

Two of her five children, Isra (33, some sources spell her
name as Esra) and Abufars (39) died alongside her. Abufars didn’t live in the tower, but was visiting his mother and sister for Ramadan. He was a keen businessman who had recently opened a fishmongers with his brother. “He was a lovely boy. He was a very hard worker, but very supportive to his mum, always caring about her,” a family friend, Wafa Hussein Osman, said at the inquiry.

Isra was a charity volunteer, her brother Abubak said. “She
enjoyed giving without taking anything back, because I think what she was
taking is the ultimate prize that somebody can get, which is seeing the
happiness from others,”

Isra loved Brighton and the funfair rides there, as well as
animals and food. She was married to Said Essaouini, a man she met in 2014 at an internet café. He spoke about his loss to the Grenfell inquiry, under pictures which he had drawn of her. “I’m a very lucky man that I had such a beautiful flower in my life,” he said. “I will never find a woman like
her ever, ever, and I am ripped to pieces… I feel like I lost my world. Every Friday I go to the cemetery and I sit down and I talk to her for two hours – I know she is listening to me.” He added that he believed Isra could have potentially escaped the fire, but “she would never leave her mum.”

Fathia’s sister Hayat also released a statement to the inquiry:

“Fathia came to this country as a refugee seeking security and safety after her struggle with the regime in Sudan, where she and her children had been subjected to harassment.

“She felt safe here in London. Because of the way she died, this now feels like an illusion for us and definitely for her.

“Our trust in this country has been destroyed. I cannot begin to describe my life without my sister, her death was a terrible shock for me and I find it very difficult to cope without her.”

There aren’t any pictures of Isra or Abufars, unfortunately.

Sources

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/30/grenfell-inquiry-final-day-of-tributes-live-updates?page=with:block-5b0eb34ee4b069235b5ce8fc#liveblog-navigation

http://www.itv.com/news/2018-05-21/the-victims-of-grenfell-tower/

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

[Image 1: A little girl in a blue dress and yellow cardigan. Image 2: A little girl in a black cardigan. Image 3: A woman in a black hijab smiling at something offscreen]

Part 16 of a series of posts honoring the Grenfell Tower victims.

The Ibrahim-Hassan family, from the 23rd floor of
Grenfell Tower

Rania Ibrahim and her young daughters Fethia and Hania all died in the fire. Rania broadcast a video on Facebook Live before she died, which her family, including her husband Hassan who was overseas, saw. Two of her neighbors, Isra Ibrahim and Fathia Ahmed, are believed to have sought refuge in her flat that night, as all their bodies were found together.

Rania was born in Egypt, but came to Britain in 2009 to help a sister who had cancer. While there she met her husband, and settled down. She loved England, her friends said, and would use Snapchat to tell all her friends so. She also loved clothes, shopping and cooking – she would happily dispense homemade food to her neighbours and her daughters’ school.

One of Rania’s sisters, Rasha, told the Grenfell inquiry more about her personality:

“She was happiness on earth. No one would sit with Rania and not smile.

Since the time of the incident I hear Rania’s voice all the time. I used to consult her on everything. Whenever I used to get angry she would calm me down.

I still write to her and talk to her even though she’s departed. I miss hearing her voice.”

Five-year-old Fethia wanted to be a teacher when she grew up, her aunt said.

“In kindergarten, Fethia was like a mother to her classmates. She was a leading character. She would care for her classmates, making sure they ate and stayed calm while away from their families during the day. She liked other children.”

Three-year-old Hania was a “little duck,” Rasha said. She loved food and drawing, and hugging her older sister. Her mother was always happy to indulge her, letting her paint furniture with nail varnish even.

Hassan spoke at the Grenfell inquiry, telling the board that “for me, life has fully stopped.” He also spoke of how his wife had always feared the building might catch fire:

She asked me one question – if there is a fire, what do we have to do? I asked one of my friends who had lived there.

When I spoke to my friend I asked him my wife’s question, ‘if there is a fire, what do we have to do?’ and he tells me ‘Hassan, don’t worry, this building is safe – if the flat next to you is on fire then nothing
happens to your flat’.

I come back to my wife and I tell her: ‘Listen love I’m going to leave the flat very nice for you and our two kids, don’t worry’ and she said ‘you know anywhere you go, anywhere that you stay, I’m going to be with you’.

“I think that’s the only mistake I made, bringing them to Grenfell Tower.”

A funeral for the family took place in September 2017, burying Rania, Fethia and Hania together alongside Isra and Fathia. Hundreds of
people attended the service.

Sources

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/29/nobody-listening-grenfell-survivors-cladding-public-inquiry

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/grenfell-tower-inquiry-victims-family-evidence-rania-ibrahim-a8363311.html

https://www.lrb.co.uk/v40/n11/andrew-ohagan/the-tower

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

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/grenfell-victim-isaac-paulos-family-firefighters-advice_uk_5b0d58dce4b0fdb2aa56efbf

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/sep/29/grenfell-fire-hundreds-gather-at-mosque-for-funerals-of-five-victims

[Image: A blonde white woman and brown-haired white man taking a selfie together]

Part 15 of a series of posts honoring the Grenfell Tower victims.

Gloria Trevisan and Marco Gottardi, from the 23rd floor of
Grenfell Tower

Gloria Trevisan and Marco Gottardi, 26 and 27 years old,
were an Italian couple who both worked as architects. They each called their parents before they died in the tower. Details of their final conversations can be found online, but are very distressing.

Marco worked at the London-based Creative Ideas & Architecture Office, while Gloria had worked at Peregrine Bryant Architecture Building and Conservation for only a week.

Macro loved roller-skating and football, and socialising with large groups of people. Gloria was shy, Marco’s mother told The Guardian, but very loving:

“She tiptoed into our lives … but as we got to know her, she was a ray of light. She was very beautiful and caring. I knew exactly why my son wanted to be with her. They had a great love between them, she always had her arms wrapped around him.”

Gloria’s home town of Camposampiero mourned for her: large crowds came out, flags were lowered to half-mast, and shop shutters were closed. Marco’s family were given items he had had with him when he died. “My wife kept a shred of the trench coat that Marco had bought in London,” his father told the Italian press.

At the Grenfell inquiry, Gloria’s mother spoke of her anger. She said she hoped the person who decided to place flammable cladding on the tower could feel the pain of the survivors and victims. “I hope this anger is going to be a positive anger. I would like this anger to help to find out the truth of what happened,” she said, and there was applause at the end of her speech.

Many tributes were paid to the couple as time went on. The Grenfellove foundation was set up in honour of them, and Gloria’s company set up a scholarship, the Gloria e Marco Award, for architects. And in 2018 Marco’s mother Daniela created a children’s book about the couple in which they, recreated as a knight and a princess, lived happily ever after together.

Sources

http://www.allthingsitalianandmore.club/interesting-it/7369/

https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=it&u=http://www.corriere.it/cronache/18_febbraio_02/grenfell-tower-londra-papa-ragazzo-morto-marco-gottardi-conservo-suo-ultimo-messaggio-8-secondi-c8c20ac4-084f-11e8-bfab-d44c18e4815f.shtml&prev=search

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/live/2018/may/29/grenfell-tower-fire-inquiry-tributes-continue-on-day-six-live?page=with:block-5b0d419fe4b022a3efa0c83d#liveblog-navigation

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

[Image 1: A little girl in a party dress and hat, being held by her smiling mother. Image 2: A man looking at the camera and smiling, against a wall-patterned background. Image 3: A woman looking directly at the camera, wearing a pink checked hijab]

Part 14 of a series of posts honoring the Grenfell Tower victims.

The Tuccu-Ahmedin family and their cousin Amna

from the 23rd floor of
Grenfell Tower

Three-year-old Amaya Tuccu-Ahmedin died with her mother Amal Ahmedin, 35, and father Mohamednur Tuccu, 44. Her cousin, 27-year-old Amna Mahmud Idris, was visiting the family the night of the fire and also died.

Mohamednur was a football lover with a BSc in genetics and a MSc in bioinformatics. He fled Eritea after opposing the government, went to Nigeria and then to the UK, where he became a security guard. His brother Ibrahim Toukou spoke at the Grenfell inquiry:

“I will never forget how he was always smiling.  who knew him described him as kind and loving. His phrase was ‘don’t worry’. I dreamed of being together with our families and children. I wanted so badly to introduce Amaya to my daughter who is seven. My children do not know Mohamednur and his family have passed away. We have told the kids they have gone away on a trip. My mother is not accepting Mohamednur’s death. It’s hard for any of us to even think about it, never mind talk about it.”

Amal’s sister Winta talked about Amal and Amaya, whose bodies were found together. Amal, she said,

“…taught me how precious life was and the importance of the
kind of people you surround yourself with. She was supposed to be here, alive… She loved her friends and family so much, especially her daughter who was the love of her life. Amal was an incredible mother, motherhood brought out a layer of her personality that we were all in awe of….

“For the rest of my life I will never accept they are gone. I will continue planning Amaya’s life: what she will be doing on her 10th birthday, her 18th and 21st and the rest of her life. We will miss them so much.”

Her sister Feruza also spoke out. Amal spoke five languages, she said, and “her infectious joy would light up a room.”

“Those we grew up with, who shared our fondest memories with, celebrated and mourned, have had their lives stolen from them while the whole of London watched.“

Amna, who was also born in Eritea, was a keen artist. Her husband Ibrahim called her “all my life” at the Grenfell inquiry. “She would support me at all times. She came to live with me in the UK in March 2016. After one year I lost her forever.”

Sources

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-44238276

https://www.pressreader.com/uk/the-guardian/20180525/281848644269411

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/may/24/i-love-you-mum-tributes-paid-day-four-grenfell-inquiry

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/live/2018/may/24/grenfell-inquiry-tributes-to-victims-continue-for-fourth-day-live?page=with:block-5b069c0ae4b05aef3eee99b9#liveblog-navigation

EDIT: Found a picture of
Amna
Mahmud Idris.

[Image: A man with black hair, in a white jumper, smiling at the camera]

Part 13 of a series of posts honoring the Grenfell Tower victims.

Mohamed Amied Neda, from the 23rd floor of Grenfell Tower

Mohamed Amied Neda tried to help his neighbours on the top floor of Grenfell Tower, but lost his life in the attempt. The 57-year-old, who
was known to his friends and family as Saber, fled the Taliban to come to
Britain, and started work as a pizza delivery driver before becoming head of his own chauffeur company. He supported his son Farhad’s career as a competitor in Tae-Kwon-Do tournaments, and drove him all over the country to compete.

He lived in the tower with his wife and son and got them to safety before thinking of himself on the night of the fire. Both of them were left in comas afterwards, but they pulled through. His son released a statement at the Grenfell inquiry:

“In the 18 years that we lived in Grenfell, there was never a bad word said about him. My dad came to the UK on 1998 with my mum and me. I was only about 5 years old, but I can remember from the moment that he set foot in the UK, that he found himself a job and he worked hard until the day he passed away.

We are a very close and happy family. I grew up in a safe home full of love and full of laughter. My dad loved life, and loved meeting people.”

He was such a friendly person that one of his customers, whom he only ever met once, called his family with condolences after he passed
away.

His brother Mohamed Aref Neda paid tribute to his heroism:

“Losing Saber was like my world came crashing down. I have faced many blows in life, losing many family members, but this was the worst.

The way in which the fire happened, his death, and the sudden severity of it all left me with so many questions and a big void in my life that I have still not come to terms with.

… The only thing I know is that my brother was a hero. He gave up his life for his family and for others.”

His family faced further heartbreak after his death when they had to hold a second funeral for him after a piece of bone was recovered too late. His wife Flora told Channel 4 of her feelings:

“I’m angry with that. We are angry. Why didn’t they check proper? Why did it take so long? Even the police aren’t getting the answer for me.

They tell the truth for us, I think it is respectful but we are angry because why they didn’t check first time and they didn’t tell us?

This time is more difficult from the first time, it is more
difficult, we did again. The ceremony … reburied, everything.”

Mohamed Amied Neda’s final phone call and last words were played for the Grenfell inquiry.

Sources

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/05/21/europe/grenfell-tower-inquiry-opens-commemorations-intl/index.html

https://www.metro.news/tributes-paid-to-grenfells-victims-at-emotional-first-day-of-inquiry/1066794/

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/feb/01/grenfell-fire-police-apologise-after-victims-bone-fragment-found-tumble-dryer

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/i-hope-havent-disappointed-you-12572286

https://news.channel4.com/2017/grenfell-tower/

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/live/2018/may/21/grenfell-tower-fire-inquiry-opens-with-tributes-to-72-victims-live-updates?page=with:block-5b02c420e4b05aef3eee7b16#liveblog-navigation

[Image: A girl with light brown skin and curly black hair looking at the camera]

Part 12 of a series of posts honoring the Grenfell Tower victims.

Jessica Urbano Ramirez, from the 20th floor of Grenfell Tower

12-year-old Jessica Urbano Ramirez was alone when the fire started,
as her mother and sister were working and her father was visiting someone else in the block. Her family desperately hoped she had survived, and she was briefly listed as missing, with Doctor Who actor Noel Clarke (a friend of her uncle) among those who appealed for information. But sadly she had died. She would have turned 13 on 4 July.

She is believed to have died alongside Berkti Haftom and her
son Biruk
. Berkti lent her a phone to call her mother, family members said, and their bodies were among six found in the flat of Raymond “Moses”
Bernard. After Jessica’s mother Adriana got the call she ran back home, but
firefighters prevented her from entering the building.

Jessica’s family released a statement via Metropolitan Police:

“We have received probably the hardest news any parents will
ever have had to bear, over the past weeks we have been in a state of confusion and limbo. Now that she has been formally identified we feel totally crushed.

Nothing will ever bring our little girl back, and we are
angry that this should ever have happened to our little angel. We will not rest until we get justice for her and for the many other lives lost as a result of this crime.

We will only feel justice has been served when the highest possible charges are applied to culpable individuals. We entrust this task to the authorities in the hope that we will not be let down.”

Our little girl was loving, kind-hearted and caring. She brought joy to everyone who met her and her laugh was contagious.

Jessica will leave a lasting legacy in the hearts of her family and friends and the many, many people who didn’t know her personally but
have come to know her since that night of 14 June.

Her light will shine bright and will light our individual paths as we start to move forward into coming to terms with our loss and heartbreak.”

Sources

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/aug/02/inquest-for-grenfell-tower-victim-jessica-urbano-ramirez-12-told-of-familys-pain

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/16/young-girl-escaped-fire-draws-heartbreaking-image-blaze/

http://www.thejournal.ie/london-fire-kensington-3442864-Jun2017/

http://www.etelford.co.uk/News/Details/25349

https://www.pressreader.com/uk/the-week/20170624/281479276417858

[Image: A boy and a woman, with the woman’s arm around the boy]

Part 11 of a series of posts honoring the Grenfell Tower victims.

Berkti and Biruk Haftom, from the 18th floor of
Grenfell Tower

Berkti Haftom, 29, and her 12-year-old son Biruk both died in Grenfell Tower. Berkti was a refugee from Ethopia: she fled the country in 1998, forced to leave her oldest child Nahom behind in the care of her own
mother.

18-year-old Nahom spoke, through tears, at the Grenfell inquest:

“When my grandmother died in 2016, everything changed. She [Berkti] was really worried about me because I couldn’t cope on my own. Since that time she kept calling me to promise me, saying, ‘you will soon be with me’.

When I remember her voice you cannot even imagine how I feel. I was looking forward to living with my mum and little brother but the fire in Grenfell Tower on June 14 2017 changed everything. I didn’t see my mother for 15 years.”

Berkti worked as a caterer at King’s College Hospital. She loved working for the NHS, her family said, because she was a very caring person and possessed a strong work ethic.

In the days after the fire, the family paid tribute to both mother and son in a statement released via the police:

Biruk was a loving, pure hearted boy, wise beyond his years
and known for his politeness, kind heart and his love for his family and
friends.

He wanted to be a footballer, his family said, and loved Chelsea’s striker Eden Hazard. He worried about his brother overseas, but was almost always a happy and cheerful young boy.

“Berkti and Biruk left an everlasting legacy full of lovely
memories and their contagious laughter and charisma will live in our hearts forever.

We are deeply hurt and heartbroken our angels were taken
from us so cruelly, so young. We will not rest until justice is served!”

Berkti’s sisters told the Grenfell inquiry that she had been ten weeks pregnant at the time she died.

Sources

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/grenfell-tower-inquiry-berki-haftom-who-died-alongside-her-son-12-was-10-weeks-pregnant-a3850391.html

http://www.itv.com/news/london/2017-09-06/pure-hearted-12-year-old-biruk-haftom-identified-as-grenfell-tower-fire-victim/

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/grenfell-tower-pregnant-woman-10-weeks-berkti-haftom-a8374941.html

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/live/2018/may/29/grenfell-tower-fire-inquiry-tributes-continue-on-day-six-live?page=with:block-5b0d5bf0e4b00330690602b6#liveblog-navigation

[Image: A white man with glasses, looking at the camera]

Part 10 of a series of posts honoring the Grenfell Tower victims.

Tony Disson, from the 10th floor of
Grenfell Tower

Tony Disson, 65, was a retired lorry driver, a father and grandfather. Like many Grenfell victims, he made a last phone call before the fire reached his flat, telling a friend “Tell my sons I love them.” His sons posted messages listing him as missing, and one of them spoke to The Independent:

“I’ve heard that he did not make it, but I have not completely given up hope. I’ve left my details at the rugby club which is being used as an emergency centre and I have been asking around for him.

My dad was well known down here and I have had loads of calls. He had been in the flat for about nine years. He lived alone and was
quite happy there.“

But sadly, he had died in the flat. His family released a statement via the police, reading:

“Losing him has left a void that can never be filled. Tony was the most generous person you could ever meet, he didn’t have much but would always be there to help people.

He had a great sense of humour, especially in the face of the practical jokes the boys would play on him.

Tony was a real family man. His boys were his life. He was a
loving husband, and a one in a million Dad.”

Tony had four sons, five grandchildren (with a sixth being born later), and three great-grandchildren. 150 people attended his funeral, including London Mayor Sadiq Khan. His funeral procession included multiple floral tributes, including one in the shape of boxing gloves, as he was a big fan of both boxing and football.

Sources

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/grenfell-tower-fire-latest-grandfather-tell-sons-love-them-final-call-trapped-a7792681.html

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/grenfell-tower-death-of-grandfather-tony-disson-leaves-void-that-can-never-be-filled-a3575221.html

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/funeral-held-grenfell-tower-victim-10708528

https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/uk/sons-goodbye-to-best-dad-at-grenfell-funeral-35879553.html

https://www.metro.news/sons-say-final-farewell-to-dad-like-no-other/658058/

https://www.pressreader.com/uk/yorkshire-post/20170630/281711204664863

[Image 1: A woman (Farrah) holding her baby and looking at the camera. Image 2: A man (Omar) and Farrah smiling at the camera. Image 3: A little girl (Malak) dressed as a witch]

Part 9 of a series of posts honoring the Grenfell Tower victims.

The Belkadi family, from the 20th floor of Grenfell Tower

The Belkadi family: Omar Belkadi, 32, Farrah Hamdan, 31, Malak Belkadi, 8, and Leena Belkadi, six months old. Leena was found in her mother’s arms, reports said. Malak was rescued from the building and taken to hospital, but sadly she died there. Only one member of the Belkadi family survived: a girl whose family requested she not be named, who is six years old. (Her identity is all over the internet, but this post won’t name her.)

Farrah worked at a nursery before going on maternity leave. Her manager there paid tribute to her:

“She was a very calming person. She was quiet, quietly confident but was funny and could give and take a joke. I can’t believe Farrah’s gone… We’re trying to remember the good times. We hope her daughter who survived the fire will come to the nursery to visit one day. We are thinking of creating a memory book of her mum for her with some old photographs and memories.”

Malak and her sister were found together and taken to hospital as their
family members frantically searched for them, their sister and their parents. Things were so chaotic and disorganised after the fire that their relatives had to plead to hospital staff to let them look for their family. Adel
Chaoui, Farrah’s cousin, told the Telegraph what happened:

“We have had no help from the police, we understand that they’re busy, but they’ve got casualties in the hospitals. The hospitals had no idea who these children were – they didn’t even realise they were related.”

The family of the Belkadis were too distraught to speak of them at first,
but they did so at the inquiry. Farrah’s father said that his daughter and her
husband “really loved each other. You can see them in the photos, you can see how they were. It’s very obvious how much they loved each other.” He would “never forget” his lost grandchildren, he said. “Death has separated us and left me torn into pieces.”

Sources:

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/28/baby-found-dead-mothers-arms-grenfell-tower

https://www.daynurseries.co.uk/news/article.cfm/id/1585596/Staff-grieving-as-nursery-worker-dies-in-Grenfell-Tower-fire

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/15/searching-grenfell-tower-missing-familiesgoing-hospital-hospital/

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/live/2018/may/30/grenfell-inquiry-final-day-of-tributes-live-updates?page=with:block-5b0e773ee4b0033069060a2e#liveblog-navigation

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/live/2018/may/30/grenfell-inquiry-final-day-of-tributes-live-updates?page=with:block-5b0e8ca8e4b069235b5ce69c#liveblog-navigation

[Image: a white woman with short white hair and a white jumper]

Part 8 of a series of posts honoring the Grenfell Tower victims.

Sheila Smith, from the 16th floor of Grenfell Tower

Shelia Smith, 84, had lived in Grenfell Tower for 34 years. Her son posted a “missing” message on his Twitter after the fire to try and find her, but sadly she had died inside the building. She was the oldest victim of the disaster. After her death her family released a statement via the Metropolitian Police:

“A very active and well-respected member of the local community, Sheila was cycling around London, performing yoga daily and swimming regularly in the Kensington Leisure Centre until she was 80 years old.

“With her exploration of the alternative, in her lifetime she amassed a wealth of knowledge, wrote poetry and philosophical and political thoughts, and created some highly original artwork – nearly all of which now sadly lost in the fire at Grenfell Tower.

“Sheila leaves two sons, six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. As a family we are heartbroken as to this senseless tragedy that took her far too early, and will do all we can to honour her name.”

Sources

https://twitter.com/adam_westbay

https://firenewsfeed.com/incident/235190

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/grandmotherofsix-84-killed-in-grenfell-tower-blaze-pictured-a3582941.html