By Patrick Sawer
London:
Distraught and in deep shock, Genet Shawo is still holding out a glimmer of hope that her five-year-old son Isaac will have somehow survived the hell of Grenfell Tower.
Choking back tears she said: "I will not fear the worse. I am still hoping and praying for him. He is a beautiful boy."
Isaac became separated from his mother as she helped a group of children and parents escape the blaze in the early hours of Wednesday.
Genet Shawo, right, helped others believing a neighbour was holding her son Isaac, left, who is missing since the Grenfell Tower fire.Credit: Facebook
"My neighbour said he would hold him and bring him down. But when I got outside I realised Isaac wasn't there. I have been to all the emergency centres, all the hospitals and there is no news of him. I just want help. Anyone who has any information, can they please come forward," she said.
It is small comfort to Mrs Shawo that without her astonishing efforts and quick thinking many more lives might have been lost. Not only did she guide her neighbours down the staircase to safety, after wrapping three children's heads in wet towels, she had earlier had the presence of mind to ring her friend Turufat Yilma, several floors below her, to alert her and her family, saving their lives in the process.
The ordeal for Mrs Shawo and her family began at around 1.30am when they were woken by the sound of a fire alarm, something many residents say they did not hear in time.
In what was to become a recurrent feature of the night's events, they were instructed to stay inside their 18th floor flat until rescue came.
A poster for missing girl Jessica Urbano near Grenfell Tower on Thursday.Credit: Getty Images
Mesi Chala, who has given an account of what happened, said: "They tried to call the fire brigade on their phone and managed to escape from the flat, but the fire brigade told them to stay inside".
However, after 30 minutes firefighters appeared to change tactics and began going door to door instructing the residents to get out immediately, including Mrs Shawo and her family.
Posters for missing people on a wall near the apartment block on Thursday.Credit: Getty Images
"I think the fire brigade realised then they could not control the fire and people had to get out," Mrs Chala said.
With the flames rising they prepared to leave via the staircase, now filling with smoke. Mrs Shawo's neighbours joined them on the landing. Her first thoughts appear to have been for the children in the group.
Debris hangs from the blackened exterior as smoke continues to rise from Grenfell Tower on Thursday.Credit: Getty Images
"As she was trying to help the children, an adult neighbour who was new to that floor said he would hold Isaac, while Paulos [his father] held their youngest son Lucas, who is three," Mrs Chala said.
"Lucas was shouting and crying in Paulos' arms. Genet guided them down the steps, staying behind them to make sure they got down."
Flowers are left on a fence near Grenfell Tower on June 15.Credit: Getty Images
But when they stumbled out of Grenfell Tower, Mrs Shawo realised Isaac was no longer with them.
She fell sobbing into the arms of her sister who had by now rushed to the tower from her home in South Kensington, saying she could not find Isaac.
Mother Adriano Urbano, left, received a call for help from her daughter Jessica on the right.
"The guy who was holding Isaac made it outside, but when Genet asked him where Isaac was he said he had last seen him inside on the stairs. He didn't know which floor. He had lost him."
The mother of 12-year-old Jessica Urbano has told how her daughter phoned her as she returned home from a night shift. Adriana Urbano was returning from her job as an office cleaner when Jessica rang her to say there was a fire.
A young girl carries a flower as she rides with an adult near Grenfell Tower on Thursday.Credit: Getty Images
"Jessica had been asleep in our flat when something woke her - I don't know if it was the smoke or a fire alarm - so she rang me at 1.39am as I was on my way home from work. She said: "'Mum where are you? Mummy come and get me," Mrs Urbano said. She urged Jessica to run down the stairs of the tower block and try to find a fire fighter to lead her to safety.
"I told her to get out of there as quickly as she could. I said 'run as fast as you can', but then the line cut out".
Sheila Smith, 84, missing since the Grenfell Tower fire.Credit: Twitter/@adam_westbay
One devastated relative described the moment he watched a family member consumed by flames as he tried to reassure him on the phone. Mokhtar Ghamni, whose brother-in-law and his family lived on the 21st floor, raced to Grenfell Tower when he heard about the fire.
Mr Ghamni managed to reach his nephew Yasim al-Wahabi on the phone, and could see him in the window as they spoke.
Nadia Choucair is missing along with her husband and three children.Credit: Facebook
"He said 'uncle, we're stuck'. I could see him from the window and could see the fire spreading towards them. Then I saw the fire boom into their flat and the phone line went down."
Yasim, 21, his sisters Hoada, 16, and Mehdi, 8, remain unaccounted for, as well as their parents, Aziz al-Wahabi and his wife Fouszia.
"The fire spread like petrol," said Mr Ghamni. "I knew as soon as I saw it and realised they were still in the flat that they were all going to die. The police haven't said anything but I know that they are dead."
Mohammed al-Haj Ali, 23, a Syrian refugee and engineering student who fled his war-torn country for a better life in the UK, has been confirmed dead. He was separated from his brother Omar as they escaped. Friends and family confirmed Omar, a 25-year-old business student, is recovering in Kings Cross hospital.
The brothers fled Daraa in southern Syria three years ago. They were granted asylum in the UK.
Marjorie Bahhaj, a friend of the brothers, said: "This is horrible - after all he has been through and a place of safety leads to his death. From a government that starts war with its citizens to our government that neglects building regulations."
A family of five is also missing. Three sisters, Fatima, Zaynab and Mierna Choucair, aged three, ten and 13, are feared dead along with their parents Nadia, 29, and Bassem, 38. They lived on one of the top floors. Nadia worked as a nursery officer at the Avondale Park primary school.
Nadia's sister Sawsan Choucair said in an emotional plea on Good Morning Britain: "[I spoke to them] in the morning as soon as I knew what happened at about 3 this morning... They were screaming, shouting, all I could hear in the background, and they were just screaming, and I was shouting - get out, try and find an exit or something.
"Everyone's doing their bit, their duty and everything, but I still don't know anything. I've given my name, my number, everything, just to know. I pray for everyone, I hope everyone's safe."
Tony Disson, 65, a father of four, pleaded for help from his family in a series of frantic calls. He said he was trapped in his bathroom in his 22nd floor apartment. The retired market trader said in his last call: "Tell my sons I love them". His phone fell silent at around 4am. His son Lee launched a social media appeal for information but a close friend last night said "we have been told that Lee's dad did not make it".
Dennis Murphy Stevan Racz shared an internet post seeking information about his Irish-born uncle Dennis Murphy, who he said had called while trapped on the 14th floor.
"We haven't heard anything since. Can anyone with any information contact me please," Mr Racz said. "I've been around asking everyone, going to the centres, no one's seen him."
Pensioner Sheila Smith, 84, is thought to be the oldest of those declared missing. Her son Adam, a technology entrepreneur, launched an appeal on Twitter, writing "My Mum is missing - Sheila, 84 years old, 16th floor Grenfell Tower".
An Eritrean family is feared to have been trapped in their 19th floor flat. Amaya Tukuh, aged just three, and her father Mohamud Tuku and mother Amal Ahmadian have not been seen. Visiting them was a cousin, Amna Abubaker, in her 30s, who is also missing.
A community volunteer said: "Nothing has been heard from them and their relatives are sick with worry".
Also reported missing, Hamid Kani, a 61-year-old Iranian who lived on the 15th floor; Steve Power, 63, whose daughter Rebecca Ross, 22, wrote on social media that she feared her father may be among the victims; Fras Ibrahim, his sister Esra Ibrahim, both in their 30s, and their mother Fathia Ahmen, in her 70s; and Raymond Bernard, known to friends as Moses, about whom nothing has been heard.
Telegraph, London