Grenfell Tower inquiry: Survivor says fire was like ‘horror film’

A mother who lived in Grenfell Tower with her three children has said escaping the 2017 fire was like “coming out of a horror film”.

Mouna El Ogbani had lived in her 11th-storey flat in the block since 2006 after moving to the UK as a teenager.

She was alerted to the fire by a phone call from a friend and escaped the block via the stairs with her husband and children.

A statement from Ms El Ogbani described thick smoke “ceiling to floor”.

The fire destroyed Grenfell Tower on 14 June 2017, claiming the lives of 72 residents.

An inquiry was ordered by former Prime Minister Theresa May the following day, and began in September the same year.

It is still ongoing and aims to examine the circumstances leading up to and surrounding the fire at Grenfell Tower.

In a statement provided to the inquiry, Ms El Ogbani said: “It was really horrific. When I first opened the door it was thick black smoke.

“I thought, ‘that’s it, we’re late, we’re going to die’ – it was like coming out of a horror film.”

Ms El Ogbani said that she could see thick smoke “zooming up” the building’s exterior once she was outside.

Impromptu shelter was provided for residents by a local rugby club, before they were moved to a hotel in Earl’s Court.

Ms El Ogbani, a former domestic violence outreach worker, said her family was given two small rooms with one bed and one cot for six weeks, with nowhere to do their laundry.

She was housed there with her husband and two children, while her son stayed at a friend’s house.

“It made us really angry, because you don’t know how you’re going to live the next day,” she said.

“The food was not great. As a Muslim person, it was not accommodated in the hotel. It wasn’t halal. It was pizza or fish and chips.”

Ms El Ogbani added that they survived “basically on the hand of our community”, as there was “no involvement” from the government and she had left with just her keys and phone.

Read more from the Grenfell Tower inquiry:

She left her job as an outreach worker in December 2017 after feeling she could no longer cope and was referred by her GP for counselling.

Ms El Ogbani also became involved with the campaign group Grenfell United, after becoming frustrated with the lack of official support.

She criticised the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea council, suggesting they “did not take into account the specific needs of each family or resident”.

“We don’t want another Grenfell to happen again,” she continued. “We want people to be listened to. We want people who are living in social housing, when they complain or make a request for something, to be taken seriously and to be treated with dignity and respect.”

Ms El Ogbani is one of several residents taking part in the inquiry to have expressed anger or frustration with the way the Grenfell fire was handled.

On Wednesday, a victim’s nephew told the inquiry: “We were abandoned in the worst way possible while we were looking for our relatives.”

The inquiry is coming to the end of a phase examining the role of the government and will next look at the way it handled the aftermath of the fire in west London.

It is expected to finish later this year and report in 2023.