A mum who has not been seen since she live-streamed a harrowing broadcast from inside the Grenfell Tower blaze was told to stay inside her flat, a friend has claimed.
R
ania Ibrham, 30, shared her battle to escape the inferno on Facebook Live in bid for help as she and her children were stuck at the top of the tower .
The mum-of-two has not been seen or heard from since she shared the video from her flat on the 23rd floor at about 1.40am on Wednesday minutes after the fire broke out.
Friend Rahmana Rashid posted a picture of the young mother and her daughters, Fathia, five, and Hania, three, on Facebook.
She wrote: Rania Ibrham my friend is missing from the grenfill tower, if you have seen her or have any news on her pls contact me.
There’s too many people stuck upstairs’: Mum broadcasts Facebook Live from INSIDE burning Grenfell Tower flat and prays for rescue
Family friend Mustafa Almansur claimed she had been told by police to remain in the tower – prompting her to invite neighbours into her flat for safety.
He said her husband, who was not in the building that night and was joining him on a protest march on Friday, has yet to be told of their fate.
He said: Rania Ibrahim is an Egyptian national, she and her two children were in the building, her husband was in Egypt.
She is part of a WhatsApp group and she messaged everyone on the WhatsApp group saying hey I’ve been told by the police not to leave, I’m stuck indoors and I hear there is a fire in the building and there’s smoke coming up.
Then everybody informed the police, the fire services and then she started a live broadcast of the last five minutes.
The live broadcast went on until her phone died, she broadcast it on Facebook where all we could hear was her consoling her children saying it’s OK, sit down, and praying and saying can people help – that’s all we heard.
The police told them to stay in and not come out of her house, so she stayed indoors and let other people in from the corridors to come into her room.
My sister has been distraught.
Her husband was at the MCHC mosque where he volunteers, the mosque had provided temporary shelter for anybody affected.
He has come back (from Egypt) and he has nothing and does not know what to do.
He has not been officially told yet about where his wife is, he is still hoping she may be in one of the hospitals.
We know that the fire officials have said anything above the 22nd floor they have not been able to reach, the official number and the death is not being released until they have actually been identified.
In one part of the footage as they film police and fire crews arriving down below, a desperate woman, believed to be a friend, yells out: We’re stuck on the 23rd floor!
Hello! There’s too many people stuck upstairs.
The footage includes a section with a woman’s voice praying as they desperately tried to get to safety.
Amid noises of banging doors in the complex, the group are trapped in their apartment as they frantically work out how they will escape.
They are frantically debating if they should open the front door and if they will be able to breathe with the thick smoke.
There is a suggestion to see if people are outside who may need help.
A female voice, believed to be a friend, says: You are not going to be able to breathe.
You’re children are not going to be able to breathe.
The same female voice says: Listen you have your children.
Standing near the door, the smoke is not going to help you, yeah? Where’s your husband?
They appear to open their front door to see thick smoke and help people and let them in.
A female voice, believed to be Rania, calls out: Hello? Come here!
Hello? hello? Come! Come! Quick! Quick!
However, a male voice urgently says come in… the smoke is coming.
A female voice says: “But the people are outside!
Towards the end of the footage, which lasts 6 minutes and 33 seconds, the people film over a balcony down to the ground below as a female says police are telling to them get out.
There are blue flashing lights as a woman prays and a emergency services crew can be heard below.
The people are asking how they are going to get out.
As they can see police and fire crews arriving, a woman yells out: We’re stuck on the 23rd floor!
Hello!
There’s too many people stuck upstairs.
The video was posted at about 1.40am as the fire was in its early stages after being reported at 12.54am.
Authorities have confirmed 12 people died in the blaze while 78 were injured, 18 of whom were in a critical condition.
The death toll was expected to increase as emergency service crews had still not been able to do a full thorough search of the building.
There are fears over the integrity of the high rise, although fire crews had managed to reach the top floor today.
Drones were also being used to examine upper floors of the structure.