'An entire family wiped out': names of victims begin to emerge after Grenfell Tower disaster

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A mother today said she was praying for her missing five-year-old son who she was separated from as the family fled for safety from the Grenfell Tower fire.

Genet Shawo was attempting to escape the blaze with husband Paulos Petakle, a taxi driver, and their two children Luca, 3 and Isaac, 5.

But Isaac, who had been holding a neighbour’s hand, got lost in the thick black smoke as they made their way from their 18th floor flat down the fire escape.

The family has heard no news of the Saint Francis of Assisi Catholic Primary pupil since.

Choking back tears, Mrs Shawo said: “I will not fear the worse, I am still hoping and praying for him. He is a beautiful boy.

Isaac Paulos, missing in the Tower block fire

“He told us during the fire that he didn’t want us to die.”

“My neighbour said he would hold him and bring him down. But when I got outside I realised Isaac wasn’t there.

“I have been to all the emergency centres, all the hospitals and there is no news of him.

"I just want help, anyone who has any information can they please come forward.”

Missing, feared dead: Yasin el-Wahabi

Mrs Shawo described how the family, who are originally from Ethiopia, tried to flee the blaze.

“We opened the door and there was thick smoke which came into our home. You couldn’t see anything it was so dark. The fire was so hot.

“I was helping my neighbour to put towels on his children, and started helping them down. I had put a wet towel already on Isaac.

Nora Huda, 15, is also among the missing

"My neighbour said he had lost hold of him inside and couldn’t find him. It was so dark, you couldn’t see anything in the smoke.

“I am praying he managed to get out somehow or someone else saved him.”

A “significant number” of the 24-storey tower block’s 600 tenants - including a two-year-old boy and 82-year-old grandfather - are still unnaccounted for.

Another family-of-five are also feared to have died in the inferno.

Mariem Elgwahry was on the 19th floor of the tower and was last seen with her mother at 2.30am. She is missing along with three family members

Relatives of Abdul Aziz el-Wahabi, 52, his wife Faouzia el-Wahabi, 42, and their three children, Yasin, 21, Nur Huda, 15, and Mehdi, eight, are waiting for news amid fears the family has died.

Otman Boujettif, 42, a cousin, said: “We spoke to them at about 1.30am but they’d been told by the fire brigade to stay in their flat, put towels down, wet the floors and wait."

He said relatives scoured rescue centres and emergency wards hunting for the family before Hanan el-Wahabi, a 39-year-old aunt, was told by fire officers to “expect the worst”.

Ms el-Wahabi, who lives on the ninth floor of the tower, said she spoke to her brother: “I told him to leave. He said he was going to come. Then I called him and he said there was too much smoke.”

A family member said: "We fear they have all been wiped out."

Fears were also growing for missing three-year-old Amaya Tukuh, who was on the 19th floor with her mother Amal Ahmadin, father Mohammed and cousin Amna.

Community worker Barsenet Zewde said: “They were all in the flat and nothing else was heard of them. Their relatives are desperate for information.”

Among the missing

 

Tony Disson, 66, who phoned his three sons at 3am to say he was trapped in his bathroom. His son Lee launched a social media appeal for information about the retired market trader, but a close friend last night appeared to confirm his death, saying: “We have been told that Lee’s dad did not make it”.

Mother-of-two Rania Ibrham, 30, sent a WhatsApp video to a pal begging for help at 2.54am. Neither she nor her children, aged five and three, have been seen since. 

Teaching assistant Nadia Choucair, 33, was in a flat on an upper floor with her husband, mother, and young daughter who called a friend at 2am to say: “Goodbye. We’re not going to make it. I love you.” 

Mariam Elgwahry, 27, shared a flat on the 19th floor with her mother Eslan, 64, and three family members who are also missing.

Jessica Urbano, 12, borrowed a phone to tell her mother she was hiding in the fire escape on the 20th floor but the call was cut off. She has not been heard from since leading to her parents to launch a desperate online appeal.

Nicholas Burton woke up in hospital after the blaze and is now hunting for his wife Maria Del Pilar Burton, 65, who has Alzheimer’s.

Berikti Habtom, 35, and her son Buroke, 12, were believed to be at home when the fire started. Her sister Arsiema was desperately seeking news of their safety last night.

Mohamdenur Tuccu, 44, finished work as a security guard at Red Consultancy and went back to break Ramadam fast his with wife Amalahmedin and their three-year-old daughter Mayah in their 19th floor flat.

Diabetic Hesham Rahman 57, texted relatives from his 20th floor apartment at 3am to say he could smell smoke.

Ali Yawar Jafari, 82, was escaping with his wife and daughter in a lift when he got out at the tenth floor, unable to breathe. His family reached the ground floor but he has not been heard from since.

Isra Ibrahim, 32, Fras Ibrahim, 38, and Fathia Ahmed, 72, were all in flat 206 when the fire began and are still missing, along with Berikti Habtom, 30, and her son Buroke, 12.

Mrs Habtom’s sister Alula Arsieme said: “We have been to every hospital and called every number we can but nothing. We are devastated.”

Mariem Elgwhary, 27, who lived on the 19th floor, and her mother Suhar, are also missing.

Friend Agz Urbankfa said: “We have heard nothing. We are increasing desperate. At 2.30am she spoke to her brother but since then nothing.

Shocked locals look on as the fire rages (NIGEL HOWARD)
NIGEL HOWARD ©

“I think she may have headed up to the roof to get away from the fire but I really don’t know.”

Grandfather Rkia Hamdan was searching hospitals and sharing updates on social media in a bid to trace his missing family of four, including Tazmin Belkadi, six, sister Malek, 10, mother Farah Hamdan and father Omar Belkadi.

He said: “We can’t find them. They’ve got two little girls and we’re just so upset and worried about them.”

Zainab Dean, who lived on the 14th floor with her son Jeremiah, two, is feared dead after being advised to stay in their flat.

Debris on the ground after the blaze
Jeremy Selwyn

Her brother Francis Dean, 47, said a firefighter borrowed his phone during the blaze to speak to his sister.

“He told her to keep calm and that they were coming to get her. He kept saying that to her again and again. But then he handed me the phone and said, ‘Tell her you love her’.

“I knew then to fear the worst. The phone went dead and I could not talk to her.”

Two brothers who fled Syria as refugees three years ago when civil war engulfed their home city of Daraa were also caught up in blaze.

Inferno: the raging fire at its height
Jeremy Selwyn

Business student Omar Alhajali, 25, escaped their 14th floor flat and was today recovering in hospital.

But he became separated from younger brother Mohammad, a 23-year-old engineering student, who was confirmed by close friends to have died.

Kareen El Beyrouty said: “They are lovely boys and have been through hell to get here. Syrian refugees come here to escape death, not to meet it.”

Architecture graduate Marco Gottardi and Gloria Trevisan, both 27, who had moved to London to seek work, were on the 23rd floor when the fire broke out.

The inferno viewed from ground level
Jeremy Selwyn

Speaking from his home in Venice, Mr Gottardi’s father, Giannino, said his son tried to reassure him and his wife Gloria, until his last words were to admit that the situation was plummeting.

Unable to hold back his tears, Mr Gottardi said: “At 4.07am he informed us that their apartment was flooded with smoke and that the situation became an emergency.

"From that moment we could not talk to him, the phone was unreachable.”

Tottenham MP David Lammy has appealed for information about his “dear friend” Khadija Saye, 24.

The artist and photographer lived on the 20th floor with her mother, Mary Mendy.

On Twitter, Mr Lammy said: “If you have any information about Khadija Saye please contact me. She is our dear friend, a beautiful soul and emerging artist.”

Meanwhile an elderly man believed to be partially blind was miraculously rescued from the inferno after using his jumper as a makeshift SOS flag.

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