You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
Grenfell council ‘recognised it should not house disabled victim above four storeys’
A disabled victim of the Grenfell Tower fire who lived on the 18th floor was told by council officials she should not be housed above four storeys as early as 2003, the public inquiry has heard.
However, Sakina Afrasiabi, 65, was moved into flat 151 in the tower in 2015. She had diabetes and failing eyesight, and was only able to get around using a tri-walker after being injured in an accident.
Her youngest daughter, Nazanin Aghlani, told the Grenfell Tower Inquiry today that she was moved into the high rise under “pressure from the council”, which said she would otherwise be suspended from its allocations list for a year.
Ms Afrasiabi was unable to get down the 18 flights of stairs to exercise her “human right to escape” even on a good day, her daughter claimed.
Ms Aghlani said her mother’s death was caused by “a failure of duty in care” by Kensington and Chelsea Council.
She added: “Grenfell was a gross criminal negligence. If we settle for this, then we deserve it.”
Sakima was remembered as “a superwoman with a big, forgiving heart” and as “the world’s most selfless mum”.
She died with her sister, Fatemeh Afrasiabi, 59, who had been staying with her. Fatemeh was remembered by family and friends as a “very kind and adorable woman” full of “positive energy”.
She was also said to be “lonely” in the UK, missing her children in Iran. Speaking through an interpreter, her son Mohammed Samimi told the inquiry that his father, Fatemeh’s husband, had been denied a visa to the UK and so could not attend.
READ MORE
The family of another victim of the fire – Khadija Khalloufi, who lived in flat 143 – was also prevented from coming because of visa issues.
Ms Khalloufi, who was originally from Morocco, did not have any family in the UK. A solicitor for the Khalloufi family told the inquiry her brother Karim Khalloufi was “very upset” not to be there.
In a statement read by the solicitor, Mr Khalloufi said he and his mother had waited five months for a visa and were led to believe they could attend the inquiry. Their application was accepted too late for the family to travel.
“You cannot imagine the helplessness and pain when you are far away and no one is telling us why,” the statement said.
The inquiry also heard a tribute to Raymond Bernard, 63 – affectionately known as Moses – who had lived in flat 201 on the top floor of Grenfell Tower for more than 30 years.
Choking back tears, his sister Bernadette remembered “a brother that I admired for his strength, his kindness, his patience and above all his belief that good would always prevail over evil”.
Raymond, a father of four, was found in his flat with his dog, Marley, and seven other residents who had taken refuge there.
Ms Bernard said his death has left her with post-traumatic stress and “untold heartache and anger”. She told the inquiry she stops outside the tower every day to speak with her brother.
A statement read by a solicitor on behalf of Raymond’s son, Julian Burton, said: “In my eyes he was the greatest man that I ever saw on this planet.”
Mr Burton said he did not have confirmation of his father’s death until “several weeks” after the fire.
Later, the father of Farah Hamdan, 31, gave a tribute to his daughter, her husband Omar Belkadi, 32, and their daughters eight-year-old Malak and six-month-old Leena.
They all died in the fire, leaving a sole surviving three-year-old child. The family has asked for the child to be kept anonymous.
Through a translator, Hamdan El Alami wept as he told the inquiry that Ms Hamdan had been a teacher who was “respecting of everyone” and had “the best relationship with her children”.
He said Mr Belkadi, who worked as a pizza delivery driver, was “the best man ever” and that “everyone loved him”.
He recalled playing with his granddaughters on 13 June, the last time he saw them.
“They are my children, I will never forget them,” Mr El Alami said.
“Death has separated us and they leave me torn into pieces.”
A tribute by Tammie Maunders to her late brother, Gary Maunders, was read out by a solicitor. It described the pair’s “love-hate relationship”.
“I think about how you must have felt that awful night, which I can’t imagine,” Ms Maunders’ statement said.
“I don’t show how I feel a lot of the time, but I think about you every day.”
Said Essaouini read a tender tribute to his wife, Isra Ibrahim, 33, while pictures he has drawn in her memory were displayed on the inquiry screens.
“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, only God knows.”
Mr Essaouini said his wife had loved going to Brighton for the funfair rides and seeing animals at Regent’s Park.
He added that he believes Ms Ibrahim, who died with her mother Fathia Ahmed, 71, and her brother Abufars Ibrahim, 39, could have escaped the fire “but she would never leave her mum”.
The final commemoration of the inquiry – presented by Nabil Choucair to remember his six family members who died at Grenfell – had to be paused for more than an hour after a woman in the front row of the audience was overcome.
Mr Choucair was left “unsettled” by the incident and did not feel immediately able to return. He was given a standing ovation as he resumed the portraits.
He was the son of Sirria Choucair, 60, who lived in flat 191 on the 22nd floor of Grenfell Tower. Nadia Choucair, 33, Nabil’s sister, lived opposite their mother in flat 193 with her husband Bassem Choukair, 40, and their three daughters Mierna, 13, Fatima, 11, and Zainab, three.
On the second day of the inquiry, people left the room in tears after video tribute to the family showed footage of the tower on fire without warning.
Mr Choucair said in a video that the family “died shielding, trying to protect the children by having them in the middle”.
“We will fight for justice and seek the truth and find out who is responsible for the crimes committed,” he added.
His mother had “a great, amazing heart” and would sneak treats to her grandchildren, the inquiry heard.
Nadia’s kindness “was amazing”, while Bassem was a “very, very easy-going, very fun-loving person”, Mr Choucair remembered.
Mierna was “very friendly”, he said, and would eat seeded olives when she was only months old.
Fatima was the “quietest” one, who liked being active and doing sport and had “a lovely personality”.
“Happy is an understatement,” Mr Choucair said to describe the children when all together with his own.
The inquiry continues on Monday, when it will start to consider how the blaze started and spread.
More from the Grenfell Inquiry
Holborn Bars, London, where the inquiry sessions are taking place
Here are all our reports from the Grenfell Inquiry so far:
30 May: Grenfell Council 'recognised it should not house disabled victim above four storeys'
29 May: Anger on day six of the Grenfell Inquiry
25 May: Grenfell families 'forced to live in chimney with stay put policy'
24 May: Grenfell family complained about father being housed on 17th floor
23 May: Tributes to children on third day of Grenfell hearings
22 May: Emotions run high as Grenfell bereaved shown footage of the tower burning
