This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/live/2018/may/29/grenfell-tower-fire-inquiry-tributes-continue-on-day-six-live
The article has changed 12 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 6 | Version 7 |
|---|---|
| Grenfell Tower fire inquiry: tributes continue on day six – live | Grenfell Tower fire inquiry: tributes continue on day six – live |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The inquiry is now listening to a tribute to Sakineh Afrasiabi from her daughter, Sheila. | |
| Sheila was too overwhelmed to come so her words are being read out by her solicitor, Eva Whittle. | |
| Sheila said that she had now lost her only friend and protector, someone who was her only shield from the world. | |
| “I always had somewhere else to go. Now I am always lonely. In the first few days after the fire I would just walk around the tower and wail and cry,” he recalled. | |
| All that she was left of her mother was a tooth and a jawbone, which was buried. Sheila said that she had lost the only person who truly loved her and she was now very very lonely. | |
| She missed her mother and aunt, with whom her mother had died, and would always love them unconditionally. | |
| The tributes to Biruk and Berkti are concluding with a call by their relatives for justice. | |
| “Please. These things we hope will never happen again. Thank you,” says one of Berkti’s sisters, to applause from those assembled for the inquiry. | |
| A video tribute is now showing Biruk’s seven year old cousin, Hemem, who is recalling him in a video tribute | |
| He was a lovely boy who would look after her, she remembers. | |
| “I was very happy but my happiness has gone because of the tragedy of Grenfell Tower. I miss him so much I still don’t know what to do without him.” | |
| She told of how her Aunti Berkti looked after her while her mother went away each year to look after her grandmother. | |
| Another cousin, Simon, tells of how Biruk taught him how to play Playstation and of the fun they had when they rode their bikes and just enjoyed “silly fun.” | |
| Simon recalls the time, as a little boy, when he was lost in Westfield Shopping centre and his Auntie Berkti “cried her heart” out for him and looked everywhere to make sure he was found. | |
| He added that he knew the family would be reunited some day in a better place. | |
| A moment of happiness for the family was recalled in the form of a birthday party which Berkti had held for Biruk in the weeks before the fire. | |
| “Biruk was beaming and he got so many presents. It is a cherished memory for our family. Biruk told us when he grew up that he wanted to be a pilot or a scientist or a footballer. We have no doubt ... that he would have been able to full his ambition.” | |
| The fire would still not take away the family’s deep love for both Biruk and Berkti, the statement concludes. | |
| Biruk was recalled as a happy little boy who would seldom if ever cry or scream, the statement recalls. | |
| As he grew up, he dreamed of being a striker like his hero, Chelsea’s Eden Hazard, and would play football under the West Way near Grenfell. | |
| “He was kind and he was sensitive. We all as sisters remember collecting him from his nursery and when we would arrive he would call us mummy even though we knew we were his aunts.” | |
| He was a little boy who was wise beyond his years, the statement adds, recalling how he had prayed for one of his aunts when she was ill and how he had worried about his brother in Ethiopia. | |
| Berkti had started to arrange the immigration papers so that her son in Ethiopia could come to the UK, but the fire had taken away that possibiliy. | |
| Biruk was a smiling and happy little boy while Berkti had a strong work ethic willing to do any labour, the family statement says. | |
| She worked as a caterer, cleaner and in coffee shops and wanted her son to have everything that she could not have when she was growing up in Eritrea. She was so happy when she found a catering position at Kings College Hospital and was proud to be working in the NHS as she was such a caring person. | |
| “Everything she did was for her sons,” the statement adds. | |
| “Our sister always put her family first. Both of her sons were the apple of her eye and she was proud.” | |
| Berkti was 10 weeks pregnant when she died in fire, the inquiry is being told in a statement read out on behalf of the family. | Berkti was 10 weeks pregnant when she died in fire, the inquiry is being told in a statement read out on behalf of the family. |
| They have no doubt that she was cradling her son as the fire and smoke closed in and it was of some small consolation that he would have been looking at her face as they left this world. | They have no doubt that she was cradling her son as the fire and smoke closed in and it was of some small consolation that he would have been looking at her face as they left this world. |
| Berkti was born in Eritrea as one of 11 children. The early ears in Eritrea and in Ethiopia as the family moved between both countries in search of safety at a time of war. | Berkti was born in Eritrea as one of 11 children. The early ears in Eritrea and in Ethiopia as the family moved between both countries in search of safety at a time of war. |
| As a result of the war and the family having to move, Berkti never really had the opportunities in education that children have now. What she lost was made up by the abundance of love around her. | As a result of the war and the family having to move, Berkti never really had the opportunities in education that children have now. What she lost was made up by the abundance of love around her. |
| She learned swiftly to become a mother after the birth of her first son and loved him with all her heart and soul. As conditions in the Horn of Africa deteriorated the family started to disperse across the world. She was a young woman and to flee with her son would have been too difficult. | She learned swiftly to become a mother after the birth of her first son and loved him with all her heart and soul. As conditions in the Horn of Africa deteriorated the family started to disperse across the world. She was a young woman and to flee with her son would have been too difficult. |
| She made the heartbreaking decision to leave her two year old son with her own mother as she was at risk of the violations against young women of her age at that time. | She made the heartbreaking decision to leave her two year old son with her own mother as she was at risk of the violations against young women of her age at that time. |
| The family add that they would like to thank the UK for providing safety and shelter to the family, resulting in Berkti and her sisters being reunited again there. | The family add that they would like to thank the UK for providing safety and shelter to the family, resulting in Berkti and her sisters being reunited again there. |
| When she first came she initially settled in Kilburn, later moving to Wood Green, and lived there with her newborn son Biruk. She was so happy eventually to have a home of their own in the Grenfell Tower. It was a place that was filled with the love and laughter of a baby boy. | When she first came she initially settled in Kilburn, later moving to Wood Green, and lived there with her newborn son Biruk. She was so happy eventually to have a home of their own in the Grenfell Tower. It was a place that was filled with the love and laughter of a baby boy. |
| One of Berkti’s sons is now speaking about his mother, with whom he said that he would communicate only by phone when he was living in Ertirea. | One of Berkti’s sons is now speaking about his mother, with whom he said that he would communicate only by phone when he was living in Ertirea. |
| “She had such a nice voice,” he says, through tears. | “She had such a nice voice,” he says, through tears. |
| When his grandmother died in 2016 his mother was very worried about him because he could not cope on his own. She promised that he would soon be with her. | When his grandmother died in 2016 his mother was very worried about him because he could not cope on his own. She promised that he would soon be with her. |
| “When I remember her promise, her voice, you can’t even imagine how I feel. I was looking forward towards living with my mum and little brother but the fire changed everything. | “When I remember her promise, her voice, you can’t even imagine how I feel. I was looking forward towards living with my mum and little brother but the fire changed everything. |
| “I thought that I was dreaming when I was told that my mum died in a fire and my brother died in fire, but it was real. To lose someone in this kind of way is the worst possible thing imaginable.” | “I thought that I was dreaming when I was told that my mum died in a fire and my brother died in fire, but it was real. To lose someone in this kind of way is the worst possible thing imaginable.” |
| “I did not even have a chance to say good bye. What makes me feel hopeless is that I will never see my mum again.” | “I did not even have a chance to say good bye. What makes me feel hopeless is that I will never see my mum again.” |
| The family are learning to appreciate the small things that they normally ignore in their every day life and be grateful, adds Berkti’s sister. | The family are learning to appreciate the small things that they normally ignore in their every day life and be grateful, adds Berkti’s sister. |
| Maybe this is what they have learned after the deaths in Grenfell Tower, she adds, as images of Berkti and Biruk are projected on the inquiry’s screens. | Maybe this is what they have learned after the deaths in Grenfell Tower, she adds, as images of Berkti and Biruk are projected on the inquiry’s screens. |
| “Let us hope that what happened will not happen to anyone again.” | “Let us hope that what happened will not happen to anyone again.” |
| We are now listening to tributes to Berkti Haftom, 29, and Biruk Haftom, 12, a mother and son who lived on one of the upper floors of the tower. | We are now listening to tributes to Berkti Haftom, 29, and Biruk Haftom, 12, a mother and son who lived on one of the upper floors of the tower. |
| One of Berkti’s sisters, reading from a statement, says that her sister fled Eritrea in search of safety, only to die in Grenfell. | One of Berkti’s sisters, reading from a statement, says that her sister fled Eritrea in search of safety, only to die in Grenfell. |
| “It’s like being shot again and again and again,” she says of the family’s pain. | “It’s like being shot again and again and again,” she says of the family’s pain. |
| Proceedings at the Grenfell inquiry are about to get underway again after a break. In the meantime, you can read the full story filed earlier by my colleague Owen Bowcott. | Proceedings at the Grenfell inquiry are about to get underway again after a break. In the meantime, you can read the full story filed earlier by my colleague Owen Bowcott. |
| The brother of a Grenfell Tower victim kept a phone line open to his sister and mother until the moment they suffocated, trapped by flames and smoke on the top floors of the building. | The brother of a Grenfell Tower victim kept a phone line open to his sister and mother until the moment they suffocated, trapped by flames and smoke on the top floors of the building. |
| On the sixth day of commemoration hearings, Ahmed Elgwahry told the inquiry how he remained in touch with his 27-year-old sister, Mariem, and his mother Eslah as the fire engulfed the high-rise flats. | On the sixth day of commemoration hearings, Ahmed Elgwahry told the inquiry how he remained in touch with his 27-year-old sister, Mariem, and his mother Eslah as the fire engulfed the high-rise flats. |
| With his voice occasionally overcome by emotion, Ahmed recalled how he had spent the earlier part of the evening with Mariem, a marketing manager, before she returned to her home in Grenfell where she cared for their mother, whose health was declining. | With his voice occasionally overcome by emotion, Ahmed recalled how he had spent the earlier part of the evening with Mariem, a marketing manager, before she returned to her home in Grenfell where she cared for their mother, whose health was declining. |
| Her friends remembered Mariem as always happy like “a ray of sunshine”, he said. “She was a beautiful, ambitious and talented woman. She wanted to succeed in her marketing career and she had fallen in love.” | Her friends remembered Mariem as always happy like “a ray of sunshine”, he said. “She was a beautiful, ambitious and talented woman. She wanted to succeed in her marketing career and she had fallen in love.” |
| The inquiry is now taking a break until 2.15. | The inquiry is now taking a break until 2.15. |