Grenfell Inquiry day 62: father gives harrowing evidence of son’s death

As Mr Tekle has previously described in a moving tribute to his son at an earlier stage of the inquiry, firefighters attended his flat at 2am and advised him to continue to wait for rescue.

In his statement released today, Mr Tekle directly challenged the evidence given by a firefighter who had said that Mr Tekle said he was safe and did not wish to speak to him before shutting the door. He said this evidence was “distressing to read”.

Mr Tekle described his fear that smoke and flame would overwhelm the flat and his family would suffer “a horrible and painful death”. He took his son and prepared to jump out of the window of the 18th floor, back first, in the hope that his body would protect his son from the impact of the fall. His partner persuaded him not to.

He was eventually called by the fire service at 2.54am and told to get out of the tower. By this point another family from the floor were also sheltering in the same flat, and there were currently five children in the home.

The family tied wet bedsheets around their heads and fled – with Mr Tekle taking his younger son and a neighbour carrying Isaac. He claimed a firefighter on the landing at this point “did not help” with the bedsheets or the children, or give any advice on how to escape safely.

Mr Tekle stumbled and fell as he descended, and said he believes he was unconscious for a time. He eventually met firefighters on the lower floors and was helped to safety.

However, outside he met the neighbour who had been carrying Isaac, who told him that his son had been lost inside the tower. He said at this stage his partner was very distraught, “crawling on the ground, crying and wailing that she had to find our son”.

The family were taken to hospital, but both parents quickly discharged themselves to return and hunt for their son.

Days later – with no official confirmation given to the family – his death was reported by BBC News. Isaac’s death was not confirmed by the authorities to his parents until 11 days after the blaze.

His post-mortem showed severe injuries to his feet and ankles, which Mr Tekle said “cannot... have been caused just by the fire”.

In a further witness statement released by the inquiry today Rabia Yahya, who lived on the same floor, gave an account of her escape from the fire with her family and her children.

Discussing the installation of new fire doors by Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO) she said: “Unfortunately the new door soon broke. It came off its hinges and jammed so we couldn’t close it. We reported this to the TMO and to a woman from Rydon, but no one ever came to fix it. Instead, [my husband] had to take out the pole from the centre of the door which makes it a fire door. This enabled us to close it, but after that the door didn’t close automatically. He took out the pole by unscrewing it with his hands. The screws were already loose.”

The family of five – including Ms Yahya who was heavily pregnant – were initially offered a one-bedroom room on the 22nd floor of a hotel after the fire, which they refused, and were eventually housed on a lower floor.

After Ms Yahya gave birth in November last year, the hotel refused to allow the newborn to stay and the family was finally offered temporary accommodation.