Grenfell inquiry: Nine-year-old pays moving tribute to cousin who will 'never be able to play with us ever again'
'I will be forever waiting for my daughter and beautiful grandchildren to walk through the door,' says another relative
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Your support makes all the difference.A nine-year-old girl has given an emotional tribute to relatives who died in the Grenfell Tower fire, as a public inquiry commemorated two entire families who perished in the blaze.
Sara Chebiouni spoke of her sadness that her cousin Mehdi El-Wahabi, eight, would “never be able to play with us ever again”.
Mehdi lived on the 21st floor of the tower block with her mother Faouzia, 42, father Abdulaziz, 52, brother Yasin, 20, and sister Nur Huda, 16. All five died in the fire.
Several hours were dedicated to their memory on an emotional fifth day of the inquiry, which seesawed from joyful memories to harrowing pain.
Later in the day a woman collapsed in the auditorium during tributes for another family who lived in the 22nd floor.
Hashim Kedir, 44, died alongside his wife Nura Jemal, 35, daughter Firdaws Hashim, 12, and sons Yahya Hashim, 13, and Yaqub Hashim, six.
Mr Kedir’s sister, Assema Kedir Habib, said the family – originally from Ethiopia – had been “cremated unwillingly”. She asked why more was not done to save people trapped as the high-rise building burned “like a torch”.
“It felt like the attempt to save them, to save what was left of them, stopped too early,” Ms Habib said in a statement read out by solicitor Mark Scott.
She added: “I still have a problem accepting the fact that the UK – one of the most powerful countries in the world – could not do anything more in the year 2017 to save them. To save what was left of them.
“Why wasn’t more done to save our loved ones? Why didn’t the UK as a government try to do more that night? Why wasn’t more done to at least save their dead bodies?
“Was it because the lives of the victims of Grenfell Tower didn’t matter? Was it because our pain doesn’t matter? Was the cost of trying to do more higher than the lives of our loved ones?”
Ms Habib told the inquiry the fire had also “stolen” her elderly father, who died 12 days after hearing the news of his family’s deaths.
Earlier in the day, relatives of the El-Wahabis told the inquiry of their lasting grief.
“I will be forever waiting for my daughter and beautiful grandchildren to walk through the door,” said Ms El-Wahabi’s mother, Menana Jabari.
Living in Morocco, she was forced to be a distant witness to her family’s final moments.
In a video message, her niece Aicha Jaiah said: “I remember saying to my aunt ‘Auntie, be strong, be strong’. She said to me ‘She’s dead, isn’t she?’ and I think I said to her ‘Yes, they all are’. And that was it, she collapsed.”
Mr El-Wahabi’s brother, Hamed, fought back tears as he paid tribute to his “kind, loyal” sibling.
“He had an infectious and caring personality,” he told the inquiry.”He left a mark on many people’s hearts, and it’s evident by the endless love and support given to us by his friends and colleagues.”
Ms El-Wahabi’s sister-in-law Hanan Wahabi, who also lived in Grenfell Tower, said she had been “anchor of our family”.
“She had a real presence in the community and was loved by many,” she added.
The cousins of each sibling also gave their own personal tribute.
Nine-year-old Sara, wearing a Grenfell jumper as spoke into the microphone, said she had enjoyed playing Lego and Minecraft with her cousin Mehdi.
“It is difficult knowing that Mehdi will never be able to play with us ever again,” she said.
“Had he lived until adulthood I think he would have liked to have been a comedian, although I do think he had some work to do on his jokes,” she added with faultless delivery.
At the end of Sara’s presentation, counsel to the inquiry Bernard Richmond QC told her she had done a “beautiful, beautiful job”.
Twelve-year-old Jessica Urbano Ramirez, Vincent Chiejina, 60, Ligaya Moore, 78, Khadija Khaloufi, 52, and Steve Power, 63, were also remembered at the end of the inquiry’s gruelling first week.
Mr Power, a father-of-five, died with his dogs wrapped around him after being advised to stay put in his 15th floor flat, his daughter told Friday’s hearing.
He was a keen fisherman and dance music DJ, whose boisterous style behind the decks meant he came across like a “West Indies man trapped in an Irish man’s body”, Sherrie Power said.
She told the hearing: “Our dad lived in that block for so long that he would have experienced more than one fire there. I don’t know if that was why he was reluctant to leave that night and unfortunately we will never know.
“I do know that my dad wasn’t in the tower when the fire started, but he came back to wake me up out of my sleep.”
The commemorations, overseen by inquiry chair Sir Martin Moore-Bick, are expected to continue until next Wednesday.
Additional reporting by PA