Grenfell inquiry hears desperate 999 calls

A 12-year-old girl was on the phone to emergency services for nearly an hour as she was trapped inside Grenfell Tower with the fire taking hold.

Emergency 999 calls were played out on the latest day of the inquiry into the tragedy - including that of Jessica Urbano Ramirez, who left her family's flat on the 20th floor to seek shelter at the top of the tower three storeys above.

She is one of 72 people who died in or as a result of the fire.

Jessica made the 30th call to the emergency services that evening, and was on the phone with call handlers for 55 minutes, the inquiry was told.

It came after the testimony of Behailu Kebede, who lived in flat 16, where the fire started.

The 45-year-old was woken just before 1am on 14 June by the sound of his smoke alarm, and found white smoke billowing from behind his fridge-freezer.

He alerted his housemates before knocking on his neighbours' doors and rushing outside barefooted.

:: Grenfell fridge fire resident 'was terrified for his life' after being 'hounded'

Within two minutes of the occupants leaving, the first firefighter entered the building. The inquiry was played CCTV from the hallways, including footage of Mr Kebede's neighbour Almaz Kinfu grabbing a suitcase on her way out of the building.

Mr Kebede's statement explained how he and his neighbours had been worried about the quality of the window refit in their flats, and had written to their MP and the council.

He said air would enter his flat through the kitchen window. Builders were sent to fill the gaps with sealant, which the inquiry heard was flammable.

Experts believe the fire escaped through the gaps in Mr Kebede's window.

He said he had "no idea" about highly flammable cladding being installed on the side of the tower block.

The Uber driver, who had lived in the block since 1991, said he had been happy to move into the flat, and described the tower as a "melting pot" of cultures.

He had bought the fridge-freezer that caught fire several years ago for about £275.

He said he heard no explosions and saw no flames in his flat on the night of the fire.

"While I was standing outside I saw the fire get bigger and bigger," he said.

Mr Kebede left the area, but returned later that evening.

"We walked back to the tower on foot," he said. "When I got there the whole tower was engulfed by an inferno on all four sides.

"It was terrifying. It was much worse than before."

:: Grenfell inquiry sees footage of source of the fire

Mr Kebede said police had wanted to put him in witness protection after it was incorrectly reported that he had tampered with his broken fridge-freezer and somehow caused the fire.

He turned down the offer but has had to live in different hotels for his own safety.

He said he lives in fear that people may want to hurt him, and that he wished he had died in the tower with the victims.

CCTV images were shown of the outside of the flats as the flames spread.

The inquiry also heard from a firefighter who spotted the flames spreading from the fourth floor, but was told by a superior not to spray them with water.

A report from the London Fire Brigade, marked with a time of 1.06am, states that a firefighter named as Watch Manager Dowden noted that "the fire has breached the window of flat 16".

It adds: "[Crew Manager] Secrett advises him not to at this point due to the risk to BA Team One who are about to enter the flat."

Within minutes, the fire spread through the cladding, the inquiry heard.