On the 14
th
of June, a fire blasted in Grenfell Tower in West London. It’s a 24-storey residential building that contains 120 flats. The cause of the fire has not been determined. Until now, there are 17 people confirmed to be dead. The death toll is expected to rise.
A Lebanese family of six is missing
Unfortunately, the Lebanese embassy to the U.K. confirmed that there are 6 Lebanese residents in this building among the missing people. They are related to each other: Bassem and Nadia Choucair, their three daughters Mirna, Fatima, and Zeinab, in addition to Nadia’s mother, Sareyah. The Choucairs and Sareyah live in separate apartments on the 22nd floor. The embassy’s staff is contacting local hospitals to find out whether these people are being hospitalized or not. Meanwhile, the Lebanese Mission is making sure that there are no additional Lebanese nationals among the victims. Nadia’s sister, Sawsan Choucair, appeared on
Good Morning Britain
. When Sawsan knew about the fire, she called her sister. Sawsan says that there was a lot of screaming and the situation was very hectic. A friend of a friend told Sawsan that the family of 6 is okay. However, Sawsan did not get more information about them. She called many hospitals to check if her relatives are there, but they are not present in any of the hospitals she contacted. The British emergency services do not have a complete list of the dead, injured, and missing people. But so far, there are 17 killed and 74 injured. In addition to that, 37 are in hospitals while 18 of them are in critical condition. Development works that were being carried in the building blocked off fire escape routes. Moreover, the building of a new academy next to Grenfell Tower made it harder for emergency vehicles from getting closer to the building. Our prayers go to this family, their relatives, and friends. Let’s hope they are safe.
