A mother and son who attempted to shelter inside a Grenfell Tower flat were found dead in each other’s arms, their family said.
Marjorie and Ernie Vital tried to escape by climbing to the top floor of the Kensington tower block and huddled together in the bathroom of an abandoned flat, but died before they could be reached.
Harrowing details of their deaths emerged amid warnings that some survivors from the tragedy last June were struggling to cope with the graphic evidence and accounts of grief heard at an inquiry in west London.
Marjorie Vital and her son Ernie, 50, lived on the 19th floor of Grenfell Tower in flat 162
Marjorie and Ernie Vital tried to escape by climbing to the top floor of the tower block and huddled together in the bathroom of an abandoned flat, but died before they could be reached
Mrs Vital’s family said they took some comfort from knowing the 68-year-old seamstress died with her son Ernie (centre, when he was younger), 50, despite the horrific circumstances
Those who escaped the burning building have suffered panic attacks and even collapsed after seeing images of the fire and of people trapped inside.
Mrs Vital’s family said they took some comfort from knowing the 68-year-old seamstress died with her son Ernie, 50, despite the horrific circumstances.
Her surviving son, who asked not to be named, said: ‘We now have the evidence that their bodies were fused together in the intensity of the fire.
‘It reminded me that as a child growing up, he (Ernie) was constantly in my mother’s arms. It symbolised to me the level of closeness that they had.’
Inquiry chairman Sir Martin Moore-Bick appeared moved by the tribute and sat with his head bowed before thanking the Vital family for their ‘very powerful’ evidence.
The first two weeks of the independent inquiry have been dedicated to ‘commemorative evidence’ from grieving families of the 72 men, women and children who perished in the disaster.
One survivor told how he now prayed to die so he could be with his ‘hero’ father. Hamid Ali Jafari, 54, said his father Ali Yawar Jafari, 82, had died after trying to save his neighbours from the blaze.
The devastating blaze took hold of Grenfell Tower last June in North Kensington, West London
He wept as he told the hearing yesterday: ‘I pray every day and even I request my friends to pray for me that I die soon to meet my father.’
The harrowing evidence of bereaved families has been heard at the start of the public inquiry at the request of the families.
Emma Kennedy, manager of the Grenfell Outreach Team, said some survivors and mourners had found it almost too hard to bear. ‘It’s very heavy emotionally – like being at a funeral for multiple people for six hours,’ she said.
Marjorie Vital and her son Ernie, 50, lived on the 19th floor of Grenfell Tower in flat 162.
Their bodies were found fused together on the 23rd floor, her surviving son, whose name was not given, said in a film shown to the room.
Today is the fourth day of the public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower disaster in North Kensington
As footage showing the charred wreckage of a former flat inside the tower was played, he said he had imagined his brother practically carrying his mother to the top floor when it became clear no other escape route was possible.
He said: ‘They entered the flat and they made their way to the bathroom. I have imagined myself as my brother in that bathroom, filling the bath with water… and there’s no way I’m leaving my mother and my mother wouldn’t leave me.
‘And there’s a sense of security in that last moment, knowing you’re not alone. We now have the evidence that their bodies were fused together in the intensity of the fire.
‘It reminded me, as a child growing up he was constantly in my mother’s arms, and when they were fused together it symbolised to me their level of closeness that they had, that umbilical cord, that my brother still relatively had intact.
‘And the point of them dying like that, it became an advantage, the fact that they were still closely linked together in that way, mother and child.’
The hearing was adjourned until 10am today.