Grenfell tower inquiry: Survivors walk out crying and woman collapses after being shown fire footage without warning

Dozens of survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire walked out of the public inquiry crying and a woman collapsed collapsed after being shown footage of the inferno.

The walkout happened during a presentation prepared by the Choucair family, who lost six members in the blaze.

The tribute featured footage from 14 June where the burning building was seen. In one clip, lights could be seen flashing a SOS signal from a window.

There was no warning to survivors and the bereaved at the inquiry immediately before the footage was shown. Around 25 people, many crying, walked out of the conference room.

Bernard Richmond QC, counsel to the inquiry, was forced to pause the film.

Several minutes later, he said: “Somebody has collapsed outside and is being dealt with, so if you could stay in the room that would be very helpful.”

It was unclear who had collapsed.

Mr Richmond later apologised for failing to warn the attendees at the inquiry about the film. He said changes in the schedule meant his notes had not been in the correct order.

“I’m sorry that the warning that should have been put out didn’t get put out,” he said.

The development came towards the end of a second day at the inquiry. Thirteen victims had been commemorated: Debbie Lamprell, Maria del Pilar Burton, Rania Ibrahim, her daughters Fethia and Hania, Khadija Saye, Mary Mendy and the six members of the Choucair family.

Sirria Choucair, 60, her daughter Nadia Choucair, 33, son-in-law Bassem Choucair, 40, and grandchildren Mierna, 13, Fatima, 11, and Zainab, three, all died in the blaze,

Sirria’s son, Hisam Choucair, described the moment he was forced to “watch them burn”. He said he was woken in the early hours of the morning by a phone call from his brother, who told him to turn on the TV.

He made his way to the site of the tower and “found the building completely engulfed in flames”, he told the inquiry. He met with his sister, who telephoned the family inside.

“The phone was just ringing and ringing we had to stand there and watch them burn to death,” he said.

“In one night I lost half my family, I feel like a stranger now. I feel like part of me has been taken away from me.

“When I go past the tower I have flashbacks. I know they are just pictures in my head, but I can see people in those windows, dying, trying to get out.”

Personal tributes from bereaved relatives and friends of Grenfell Tower victims will continue into next week, before the formal evidence hearings begin.