Grenfell Tower fire inquiry: Paramedics called as woman faints during moving tributes to victims

Tom Powell25 May 2018

A woman had to receive care from paramedics after fainting during the inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire on Friday.

The hearing, which is currently remembering the 72 people who died in the inferno, had to be paused while the woman received medical attention.

The inquiry’s chairman, Sir Martin Moore-Bick, checked that the woman was okay before resuming proceedings, Sky News reported.

She reportedly fainted while the sister of a man who died in the fire alongside his wife and three children delivered a moving statement through her solicitor.

Hashim Kedir, 44, died alongside wife Nura Jemal, 35, daughter Firdaws Hashim, 12, and sons Yahya Hashim, 13, and Yaqub Hashim, six.

Yaqub, who had turned six the previous month, was the youngest of five family members to perish in the blaze.

Hashim's sister, Assema Kedir Habib, said her nephew had boundless energy and would only ever sit down when eating or watching TV, in a statement read out by her solicitor Mark Scott.

She said: "His energy was contagious, his simple presence was a spark of happiness."

She went on: "When I heard about the fire ... Yaqub was the first one that came to my mind. I was worried how they could manage to hold him all the way down from the 22nd floor. I was worried that he would fall and break something.

Victims of the Grenfell Tower fire

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"I had one hope, I had one wish, I hoped that Yaqub was asleep that night and he hadn't seen or heard any of the horrible things that happened and that he left us happy and joyous as he had always been. The 999 calls they made that night proved me wrong."

Firdaws was remembered for her eloquence and beautiful singing voice at the Grenfell inquiry.

Her aunt Assema said in a statement read by her solicitor: "She was extroverted but humble and kind at the same time."

Earlier on Friday, the father of a 12-year-old killed in the fire has said there are no words to describe the family's feelings of emptiness after losing his "daddy's girl".

Jessica Urbano Ramirez was two weeks away from her 13th birthday, which she had planned to celebrate with a slumber party, when she died in the June 14 blaze.

The film footage was part of a commemoration to the Choucair family, three generations of whom died in the fire.

Inquiry staff had said they would notify those in attendance - which included many survivors and bereaved relatives - before images of the tower appeared so as to reduce the amount of distress caused.

But phone camera footage flashed on both screens, showing flames engulfing the block, without any prior warning.

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