How Grenfell unfolded floor-by-floor as terrified residents ‘tripped over bodies’ in pitch black to flee raging inferno

THE Grenfell Tower fire which killed 72 people was the result of “decades of failure”, the long-awaited report into the blaze has found.

The west London tower block was covered in combustible products because of the “systematic dishonesty” of firms who made and sold the cladding and insulation, the inquiry chairman said.

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Smoke hindered rescue efforts as fires continued to burn with families trapped throughout the building[/caption]

Rex Features

Fire ripped through Grenfell Tower in Kensington, West London, on June 14, 2017[/caption]

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Some 72 people died when the fire broke out[/caption]

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An official works in the burnt out remains of the Grenfell Tower[/caption]

Sir Martin Moore-Bick called out “deliberate and sustained” manipulation of fire-safety testing, misrepresentation of test data and misleading of the market.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the report identified “substantial and widespread failings”, adding that the Government will carefully consider its recommendations “to ensure that such a tragedy cannot occur again”.

The seven-volume and near-1,700 page final report of the inquiry into the disaster laid out in damning detail how those in positions of responsibility had not heeded or acted on warnings from earlier fires.

Here, we reveal how the disaster unfolded, floor by floor, with tower residents facing disaster throughout that tragic night.

Floor 10: “Stumbling over bodies”

Nagawa Nalukwago, who was staying in Flat 71, next to Flat 76, left the tower at 1.35am.

Upon leaving her flat, she was confronted by “thick black smoke which felt hot”, according to Volume 6 of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.

Despite the conditions, she was able to make her way to the stairwell.

While doing so, she “stumbled over what she thought were three bodies”, according to the report.

They were the bodies of Ali Yawar Jafari, Mohamednur Tuccu and Khadija Khalloufi, all of whom had by then been overcome
by the conditions in the lobby.

“That none of them had been able to reach the stairs shows how disorientating conditions on floor 10 were,” the inquiry states.

Floor 11: Panic in smoke-filled lift

Retired jewellery maker Ali Yawar Jafari, 81, had lived in Flat 86 on floor 11 of Grenfell Tower with his wife, Fatima, and their two adult daughters, Maria and Nadia, since 2003.

Ali suffered from diabetes and heart disease.

On the evening of June 13, 2017, Ali was seen entering the tower at 7.40pm, staying in his home preparing to break the Ramadan fast with the rest of the Jafari family.

By 1.22am, the fire had reached the top of floor 11, outside the kitchen of their flat.

Fatima and Maria had begun making their way outside, with Nadia waking her father to help him escape.

Nadia saw flames push through the kitchen window extractor fan, shattering the glass, as she fled with her father.

They knocked on the doors of neighbours, and Nadia suggested to her father that they use the lift to leave the tower.

There appeared to have been no smoke in the lift when it got to floor 11, according to the Grenfell Inquiry report.

It started to descend but stopped suddenly at floor 10, and smoke started seeping through the closed doors.

A rush of smoke then filled the lift as the doors opened, leaving the Jafaris and other residents coughing and shouting, and obscuring the lights.

In a panic, Ali and a number of other residents went into the smoky lobby, and he became trapped.

Nadia thought her father left the lift on the ground floor ahead of her, but when the family discovered this was not the case, Nadia and Maria tried to get back in.

They were stopped by a police officer.

Firefighters found Ali Yawar Jafari’s body near the lift on floor 10, and carried him down the stairs, before realising he was already dead.

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Members of Grenfell Next of Kin take part in a press conference following the report[/caption]

Floor 14: Left behind in neighbour’s kitchen

Painter and decorator Denis Murphy, 56, lived in Flat 111 on Floor 14 of Grenfell Tower, having first moved there in 1984, and returning again following an amicable separation from his wife in 1997.

He lived there for the next 20 years.

Denis, who had emphysema, returned to his home on the afternoon of June 13, and called 999 at 1.25am, telling the operator that the blaze was outside his window.

He called his brother Timothy and left a message. Timothy then returned the call at around 1.36am.

Timothy could hear a smoke alarm in the background, and his brother was coughing, “sounding distressed”, according to the inquiry report.

Denis opened the front door when his brother told him to leave, but then told Timothy that it was pitch black in the lobby and smoke was coming into the flat.

Timothy told his brother to shelter in the bathroom, adding that he would call the emergency services.

Firefighters arrived on the scene, and moved Denis to Flat 112, and then again into Flat 113.

During the “partial evacuation” after a number of firefighters were deployed to floor 14, Denis Murphy was left behind.

His remains were later recovered from the kitchen area of Flat 113.

The Inquiry report states: “We conclude that the bridgehead was aware shortly after that partial evacuation that people remained trapped on floor 14.

“No other firefighters were able to reach that floor.

“There was no direct contact with Denis Murphy after the partial evacuation.”

Floor 15: Black smoke filling the flat

Retired driver and keen fisherman Steve Power, 63, lived in Flat 122 on floor 15 with his daughter Rebecca Ross, his son Bobby Ross and his three dogs, Stevia, Diva and Jess.

He suffered from emphysema and was diagnosed with bowel cancer.

On the night of the fire, Steve woke his daughter at around 1.30am to tell her about the blaze in the building.

She wanted to leave, but he thought they should stay.

Friends and family called and urged them both to leave, and Rebecca tried to persuade her dad to do so.

At around 2.22am, black smoke was filling the flat.

The father and daughter agreed to leave.

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All of the tragic 72 victims of Grenfell[/caption]

The lobby was so full of black smoke that it was impossible to see.

Rebecca managed to find her way to the stairwell, and firefighters found her on the stairs between floors 10 and 11.

The daughter, who was struggling to breathe, told the firefighters who were carrying her down the stairs that her father was trapped on floor 15.

Rebecca left the tower at 2.54am, and later learned that a friend of her father had spoken to him over the phone after she had left the flat.

“There is no further evidence of when the call was made or what was said, but it appears to have been the last contact with Steve Power,” the inquiry reads.

Floor 23: Mother’s plea – “I can’t breathe”

Mariem Elgwahry spoke to her brother, Ahmed, at about 1.43am, telling him that there was a fire in the kitchen and she was with their mother.

Ahmed told her to get out of the building. He then left his home and went to the tower.

Mariem Elgwahry called Ahmed Elgwahry again several times, telling him that they had tried to go down the stairs but could not do so as others had been coming up and telling her to go back.

She explained that she was now in Flat 205 after a neighbour had let
them into his flat.

The final telephone call between Ahmed and his sister Mariem began at 2.33am and ended at 4.27am.

Ahmed said that there had been no background noise in the flat.

He could hear coughing and his sister’s coughing increased.

He tried to encourage her to leave but she said she could not leave as the landing was filled with thick black smoke.

Ahmed believed that his sister did not want to leave their mother behind.

Ahmed could see that the kitchen of Flat 205 was the last room to be affected by the fire on the outside of the building.

He heard his mum begin to panic. She started mumbling and making a deep humming sound.

She was initially able to make banging sounds in response to requests from her brother but stopped responding soon after.

Ahmed then heard his mother say in Arabic, “I can’t breathe.”

He thought that that was at about 3.10am.

He did not hear from them again.

Five to ten minutes later he could hear the sound of glass windows breaking and the fire entering the flat.

He kept the line open until 4.27am, long after he had ceased to hear from them.

The fire reached the west face of Flat 205 by around 3.14am.

By 3.33am, there was evidence of a large fire throughout Flat 205.

The remains of Eslah and Mariem Elgwahry were recovered from the kitchen area of Flat 205.

The coroner was satisfied about the identification of those remains and therefore issued interim certificates of the fact of death for Eslah and Mariem Elgwahry.