Missing Italian couple 'played down Grenfell Tower fire to reassure family as smoke flooded flat'
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A young Italian couple caught up in the Grenfell Tower tragedy 'played down' the fire to reassure their families, distraught relatives have said.
Engaged Gloria Trevisan and Marco Gottardi, both 27 and from around Venice, are missing following the devastating inferno.
The pair, who had only been in London for three months, were living on the 23rd floor of the tower and Gloria was due to return to Italy today.
Marco’s father, Giannino, said he called his son when he heard about the fire.
He said: “He played down the incident, I think to reassure us. At the last contact, he informed us that their apartment was flooded by smoke and that the situation was an emergency. Then nothing. We only hope for a miracle.”
(Photo: Facebook)
Relatives are desperately searching for two young sisters and their parents missing following the devastating Grenfell Tower inferno.
Tazmin Belkadi, 6, sister Malek, 10, mum Farah Hamdan and dad Omar Belkadi have not been seen since the blaze.
Distraught grandfather Rkia Hamdan has been searching hospitals and sharing updates on social media in a bid to trace the family of four.
(Photo: Twitter/KidsofWorld)
He told The Sun: "We can't find them.
"They've got two little girls Tazmin and Malek and we're just so upset and worried about them."
"We just want them home. It's so upsetting.”
A mum and her young son are feared dead after reportedly being told to stay inside their flat as fire engulfed the building.
Zainab Dean, who lived on the 14th floor with her son Jeremiah, two, not been heard from since the blaze in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
When her brother Francis Dean, 47, spoke with her on the phone, she said she had been told to remain in her flat.
(Photo: Facebook)
Mr Dean said: “My sister called me to say there was a fire in the tower.
“I told her to leave by the stairs but she said she had been told to stay inside her flat. That was in the early hours of today and I’ve not heard from her since. I fear the worst.”
He added a firefighter had borrowed his phone during the blaze to speak to Zainab.
Mr Dean said: “He told her to keep calm and that they were coming to get her. He kept saying that to her again and again. But then he handed me the phone and said, ‘Tell her you love her’.
“I knew then to fear the worst. The phone went dead and I could not talk to her.”
(Photo: Facebook)
Three generations of the same family are feared to have died inside their flat during the horror blaze in west London.
The daughter of teaching assistant Nadia Choucair rang her best friend in the early hours and said: “We’re not going to make it. I love you.”
Hers was among a number of families unaccounted for tonight as relatives and friends frantically sought news of loved ones living in the tower.
Police said 12 people died in the inferno, but witnesses reported seeing “many more” bodies at the scene.
Nadia, her husband, their three daughters and the girls’ grandmother have all been missing since the fire.
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One local, who gave her name as Hulya, 42, said: “It’s just awful, absolutely devastating. One of the daughters rang her friend saying they weren’t going to make it and that she loved her. She’s about 13. Nobody has been able to contact any of them since.
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“There are three daughters. One is about two, [another] is at primary school, the other at secondary school. The mum is a teaching assistant at my children’s school, everybody loves her.”
A family of seven living on the 18th floor were also missing. Amina Hassan, 48, said the relatives had been trapped inside their flat.
(Photo: /Twitter)
She added bodies were gathered in an area behind her own flat, and claimed there were “far more” victims than police had confirmed.
Hana Wahabi, 39, had lost contact with her brother Aziz El Wahabi, his wife Fouzia and their three children Nurhouda, Yassin and Mehdi.
She said: “They live on the 21st floor. I rang him and the fire had not reached the top of the block at that point. He said he had been told to stay inside, stay in one room together and put towels under the door.
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(Photo: Twitter)
“I told him to leave. He said he was going to come. Then I called him and he said there was too much smoke.
“The last time I saw him they were waving out the window. The last time I spoke to his wife, he was on the phone to the fire brigade.”
Ahmed Chellat, 60, was also desperately waiting for news of the El Wahabi family. He has not heard from his sister-in-law, brother-in-law or their three children since the blaze.
(Photo: Twitter)
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Mr Chellat said: “I was on the phone to her saying, ‘get out’. But she said they had been told to stick towels under the door, stay inside and wait to be rescued.
“She said, ‘Smoke is coming under the doors’, then I got cut off. That is the last time I heard from her.”
Locals feared a couple and three of their four children had perished in their flat on the top floor of the 24-storey building.
(Photo: Twitter)
Yasmin Bayoudi, 17, said the surviving brother was injured escaping and had tried desperately to contact the rest of his family. She said: “His whole family was on the top floor and nobody could get hold of them. His mum, dad, two brothers and sister.”
Mum-of-two Ranya Ibrahim, who was trapped at the top of the tower, sent a friend a harrowing Snapchat message in the early hours as the fire spread.
The 30-year-old also wrote: “Forgive me everyone. Goodbye.”
(Photo: PA)
Her friend Maseen said: “She lives on the top floor with her two children, who are just three and five. I received a Snapchat video from Ranya at 3am, just after the fire started. I haven’t heard from her since.”
Genet Shawo was yesterday searching for five-year-old son Isaac Paulos after they became separated.
The mum of two said: “We were on the 18th floor. The smoke was so thick, we couldn’t see. A neighbour took Isaac’s hand and I had my other son Lucas; he’s three.
(Photo: SWNS.com)
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“We went down stairs, but when we got outside Isaac wasn’t there. I saw the neighbour and said, ‘Where’s my son?’. He said he’d left him.”
Relatives were concerned about 12-year-old Jessica Urbano, who lived on the 20th floor with her mum and older sister. Aunt Sandra Ruiz said: “She was with a group of people in the fire escape, in the fire stairs.
“My sister-in-law was just coming back from work, as was my older niece. Jessica called her to say this has happened. She was a few minutes away That’s the last they heard of her. We’re desperately worried.”
(Photo: SWNS.com)
Mariem Elgwahry, 27, and her mother Eslah, 64, who lived on the 19th floor, were feared to be victims, as were Khadija Saye, 24, and mum Mary, who lived on the 20th floor.
Artist Khadija had posted a terrifying message on Facebook at 3am. She wrote: “Please pray for me, there’s a fire in my council block. I can’t leave the flat. Please pray for me and my mum.” Tottenham MP David Lammy, a family friend, posted a plea for information.
More residents unaccounted for last night included Saber Neda, who lived in a top-floor flat. He stayed behind after urging wife Shakila, 45, and son Farhad, 24, to flee.
His nephew Rashad Naqshbandi, 24, said Mr Neda stopped answering his phone at around 6am yesterday.
Mr Naqshbandi said: “He lived with his wife and son, who are both in a coma because of smoke.
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“I’ve already lost a friend, Yasin, and his whole family. I know they’re dead because they barricaded themselves in.” He added: “People were all calm. The only way there were all calm is that they were told everything is under control. Then when the fire came they were screaming, ‘help, help’.”
Ali Yawar Jafari, 82, had been in a lift with his wife and daughter, but they were separated when he got out early.
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Mr Jafari’s son Hamid Jafari said: “He was with my mother and sister in the lift. She said the lift stopped on the 10th floor and he said there was too much smoke and he couldn’t breathe, and he got out of the lift. Then the doors shut and it didn’t stop again till the ground floor.”
Another pensioner, 75-year-old Abdel Salam, is feared to be among the victims after he rang his sons and told them: “I can’t breathe.”
Nura Jamal, who lived on the 23rd floor, is feared to have perished with her two sons, aged six and 11. She rang a friend at 2am and said: “Forgive me, the fire is here, I’m dying.” A friend said: “I just hope she escaped. I’ve cried, everyone has cried. This will devastate everyone in the local area.”
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Friends of Steven Pile, who lived on the 12th floor, were also concerned. Elvis Burke, 50, said: “He rescued his niece but he stayed to save his dogs and nobody’s heard from him.”
Italian couple Gloria Trevisan and Marco Gottardi, both 27, were also missing. The pair, from Venice, had only been in London for three months and Gloria was due to return to Italy today. They lived on the 23rd floor.
Marco’s father Giannino said he called his son when he heard about the fire. He said: “He played down the incident, I think to reassure us.
“At the last contact, he informed us that their apartment was flooded by smoke and that the situation was an emergency. Then nothing. We only hope for a miracle.”
Others who had not been heard from last night included Sheila Smith, 84, Raymond Bernard, 65, Mo Tucco and Hesham El-Raaman, 57.