The police have apologised after the bone fragment of a Grenfell fire victim was found in a washing machine when officers sent his clothes for cleaning.
Mohamed Saber Neda – who jumped from the West London tower block – was laid to rest by grieving relatives after leaving a heartbreaking voicemail seconds before, saying: ‘Goodbye, I am leaving this world, goodbye. I hope you forgive me. Goodbye everyone.’
But his family has told how they have had to bury him for the second time after a phone call from police revealed bone fragment belonging to Mr Neda had been found by cleaners as the Met prepared to return the washed clothes to Mrs Neda.
Flora Neda, right, is comforted by her sister as she is forced to hold a second funeral for her husband, who jumped from the burning building to his death
Mr Neda’s wife Flora and her son Farhad, were the only residents to make it out of the 23rd floor – the very top of the tower in Kensington.
She told Channel 4 News this latest revelation unearthed wounds that were only just starting to heal as she was forced to hold another funeral in order to bury the recovered bone in the same grave.
‘After six months, they start cleaning, they found one piece of his bone in the washing machine,’ she said.
Afghan migrant minicab driver Mohamed ‘Saber’ Neda, 57, with his wife Flora Nada, 45, and son Farhad, 24
‘I’m angry with that. We are angry. Why didn’t they check proper? Why did it take so long? Even the police aren’t getting the answer for me. They tell the truth for us, I think it is respectful but we are angry because why they didn’t check first time and they didn’t tell us?
‘This time is more difficult from the first time, it is more difficult, we did again. The ceremony… reburied, everything. And I told my son now we have to accept your dad is not coming anymore.’
Controversy has long raged over the death toll of the Grenfell fire and how police handled the scene.
The bone fragment was placed in Mohamed’s grave at a second funeral after it was found in a washing machine
Officers say it is among the most complex investigations they’ve ever dealt with and that they’ve put families of the dead at the heart of it.
But Flora and her family’s traumatic experience, once again raises questions about how victims were recovered. She can’t understand how a fragment of her husband’s body was found in a washing machine, when police sent his clothes for cleaning.
‘I’m sorry, it’s the first time it has happened for us as well but I’m sorry to tell you we don’t know about that … how this happened,’ she said.
Tonight in a Channel 4 News interview the family share their pain at having to hold a second funeral to place the bone with the rest of the body
Mohamed Saber Neda died after jumping from Grenfell tower and left a heartbreaking voicemail to be broadcast tonight
Tributes to the late Mohamed Neda are pictured at the second funeral his family held when bone fragment was found in a washing machine
The Metropolitan Police said an external cleaning company discovered the bone and the post-mortem did not identify any part of his body was missing.
They said they have apologised to the family and fully explained the process to them.
In the interview – to be broadcast tonight – Flora tells Channel 4 News that she takes comfort in the fact that her husband spent his last moments trying to assist his neighbours.
‘I’m proud of him, he helped people and he died because he wanted to help more people,’ she said.
In the moments before he died, Mr Neda left his family a final goodbye message.
His wife tells the programme that she has only just found the strength to listen to it herself.
She has asked Channel 4 News to broadcast it because she is so proud of his bravery and believes it demonstrates his courage, even when faced with the worst possible choice.