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| Brother of Grenfell fire victim stayed on phone as she and mother died | Brother of Grenfell fire victim stayed on phone as she and mother died |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| The brother of a Grenfell Tower victim stayed on the phone to his sister until the moment she suffocated along with their mother, 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. | |
| With his voice occasionally overcome by emotion, Ahmed recalled how he had spent the evening before the fire with Mariem, until she returned to her home in Grenfell where she cared for their mother, whose health was declining. | |
| Her friends remembered Mariem, who worked as a marketing manager, as always happy and 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.” | |
| In the year before she died, she had led an active and adventurous life, climbing a volcano and paragliding in Spain. “People said she was fearless. I think she felt the fear but did it anyway.” | In the year before she died, she had led an active and adventurous life, climbing a volcano and paragliding in Spain. “People said she was fearless. I think she felt the fear but did it anyway.” |
| She raised money for a medical charity in memory of their father, who died when she was young. On 15 June last year, the day after the fire, she had been to due to attend an interview for a “dream job”. | |
| Ahmed had said goodbye to her earlier in the evening before the fire broke out. “Little did I know that would be the last time I saw her,” he said. | |
| A few hours later Mariem phoned her brother and his wife. She told them there was a fire in the building and she had already left the flat. | A few hours later Mariem phoned her brother and his wife. She told them there was a fire in the building and she had already left the flat. |
| “I knew she was scared,” Ahmed said. “I told her to get the hell out of the building. I will never forget the feeling. I felt very sick. She and my mum were trapped on the top floor even before I left [home]. The drive to the flat felt so long. I remember running to Grenfell Tower but it felt so slow.” | |
| Mariem rang him again as he stood below the tower. “She started to calm down. She was trying to provide reassurance [to their mother]. She could not see fire but it was clear she knew it was coming. She was trying to keep my mum calm”. | |
| They all knew their flat with all the family’s mementos would be destroyed. “It was not only Mariem and Mum who died that day,” Ahmed said, “I felt that my father died again. The truth is that they were both trapped and there was no way out.” | They all knew their flat with all the family’s mementos would be destroyed. “It was not only Mariem and Mum who died that day,” Ahmed said, “I felt that my father died again. The truth is that they were both trapped and there was no way out.” |
| It would have been suicide to run into the building to try and rescue them, he added. “I recall moments of silence between us on the phone. I knew [Mariem] had a decision to make. I believe she could have made it out but she would never have left my mum. She stayed back and comforted her. | |
| “She kept going until she was no longer audible. She started to mumble and there was banging on the floor and finally no response. About 20 seconds later I heard my mum’s voice. She was struggling for breath. She said her last words: ‘I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe.’ She was so frightened.” | |
| Ahmed said he remained on the phone and could hear the sound of crackling as the fire penetrated the windows. “They were poisoned by the smoke. I had to listen to them suffering. I had to listen to them die. If that’s not torture, I don’t know what is.” | |
| Three months later, he said, he received fragments of bone and muscle tissue from the archaeologists working with the coroner. It was like “piecing my family back together, as if we are dinosaurs”, he said. | |
| “Mariem was one of many who had raised concerns about health and safety before the fire. On the night of the fire I heard her voice for the last time. Today she had no voice. I’m her voice.” | “Mariem was one of many who had raised concerns about health and safety before the fire. On the night of the fire I heard her voice for the last time. Today she had no voice. I’m her voice.” |
| Ahmed Elgwahry said it was still too painful to talk about the loss of his mother and some of his grief would remain private. | Ahmed Elgwahry said it was still too painful to talk about the loss of his mother and some of his grief would remain private. |
| “This was no accident,” he said. | “This was no accident,” he said. |
| Grenfell Tower inquiry | Grenfell Tower inquiry |
| Grenfell Tower fire | Grenfell Tower fire |
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