Commemorative presentations honoring Birktie and Biruk Haftom from flat 155 and Raymond Moses Bernard from flat 201, detailing their lives, their final movements during the fire, and the circumstances of their deaths in flat 201 on floor 23.
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00:00:30 Thank you very much. I now ask that Danny Friedman QC come back to the podium please
00:00:37 to make his presentation on behalf of the family of Biruk and Bertie Haftom from flat
00:00:43 155 on floor 18, who were recovered from flat 201 on floor 23. Mr. Friedman, thank you very
00:00:51 much.
00:00:52 Thank you. Yes, Mr. Friedman.
00:00:55 I should have repeated the trigger warning. I'm so sorry. I should have repeated the trigger
00:00:58 warning before Mr. Friedman came back that there may be material and matters discussed
00:01:03 in this presentation which those in the room or listening on or watching the live stream
00:01:08 may find difficult and they may wish to absent themselves or look away. I'm sorry. I should
00:01:11 have mentioned that.
00:01:14 Yes, Mr. Friedman, when you're ready.
00:01:21 Birktie Haftom and her son, Biruk, lived in flat 155 on floor 18 with Birktie's partner
00:01:39 Michelle Chiappetto, known as Mickey. Birktie was born on the 2nd of November 1987 in Asmara,
00:01:48 Eritrea. She was 29 years old at the time of her death. Birktie worked at King's College
00:01:54 Hospital. Biruk, Birktie's younger son, was born on the 27th of April 2005. He was 12
00:02:04 years old. Birktie's oldest son is Nahom Tesfaye. Her sisters, Yodit Zaid and Helen Gebrezki.
00:02:15 Biruk's father is Hayalom Abriha Waldegebir. As the inquiry has heard, Birktie was born
00:02:25 in Eritrea but forced to make the heartbreaking choice to flee her country as a result of
00:02:30 civil war. Birktie was a brilliant mum. She loved both her boys with all her heart and
00:02:36 soul. She valued and prioritised both children receiving the education that she was not able
00:02:42 to receive and always put her family first. Biruk was a happy and contented child, loved
00:02:51 by everyone. He was bright and doing well at Kensington Aldridge Academy. He was football
00:02:57 crazy. He said that when he grew up he wanted to be a pilot, a scientist or a footballer.
00:03:04 Birktie and Biruk moved into their flat in Grenfell in 2007. You will recall being told
00:03:11 that they felt lucky to be living there and the home was full of love and laughter. Birktie
00:03:18 and Mickey were expecting a child at the time of the fire that would have been due in January
00:03:25 2018. Mickey was not at home on the night of the fire, he was at work. CCTV footage
00:03:35 shows Birktie entering Grenfell Tower at 1.33pm on the 13th of June. She was again seen in
00:03:43 the lift lobby at 6.54pm. Biruk was captured on CCTV in the lift lobby at 7.52pm. The
00:03:55 rapid spread of fire meant that the external flames reached floor 18 before 0126. As touched
00:04:02 on in the presentation for the Afrasyabi sisters, the kitchen window of flat 156 where Shahid
00:04:08 and Saeed Ahmed lived exploded inwards shortly before 0127. The event can be timestamped
00:04:15 as you have heard by reference to the 999 call that Mr Ahmed made when he threw down
00:04:22 the mobile phone and was heard to be banging on the doors of his neighbours' flats. Only
00:04:30 a few weeks before the fire, the family had taken a lodger, Yehulet Enu. Mr Enu recalls
00:04:37 that he was woken by smell and smoke at around 1.15pm. Birktie and Biruk left the flat while
00:04:45 he was changing out of his pyjamas. Mr Enu survived the fire having moved to flat 153
00:04:52 sometime after 0130 and escaped the tower at 0313 with the Tekle Shower family in difficult
00:04:59 and tragic circumstances which you will hear recounted in another presentation. As the
00:05:06 Phase 1 report concluded, the fact that Shahid and Saeed Ahmed do not recall seeing Birktie
00:05:11 and Biruk suggests that they had likely left before this point in time when the Ahmeds
00:05:16 were on the 18th floor lobby, i.e. before 0127. Birktie and Biruk were among those that
00:05:24 went upstairs at a time when others descended safely and exited the tower. I would suggest
00:05:30 you on that generally this morning and I refer to what I said then as to the relevant movement
00:05:36 of the mother and son. The timing of Birktie and Biruk going upstairs can be placed by
00:05:42 reference to the phone call between Jessica Urbano-Ramirez from flat 176 and her mother
00:05:48 at some point shortly after 0121 using Birktie's mobile phone. At the same time she said that
00:05:56 she was on the landing of floor 18. Jessica would then make a 999 call from flat 201 on
00:06:04 floor 23 at 129 using the same phone. Varduma Ahmed, who was alerted to the fire at 120
00:06:13 and left flat 164 on floor 19 shortly afterwards, describes encountering a group of residents
00:06:19 on floor 23 when she identified in that group both Birktie and Biruk. Birktie and Biruk
00:06:29 took shelter in the home of Mr Bernard in flat 201 on floor 23. This must have been
00:06:35 before 013210 when Biruk spoke to CRO Howson in the LFB control room. His call would last
00:06:45 for just over four minutes. He told the operator that his flat number was 155 but that he was
00:06:52 now in a different flat on the top floor. He later added that there were eight children
00:06:58 and lots of adults. To recap, the others in flat 201 at this time were Raymond Bernard,
00:07:05 Debbie Lamprell, Gary Maunders, who would leave for flat 203, Hamid Khani, Jessica Abano-Ramirez,
00:07:13 Amna Idris, Amal Ahmedin and her daughter Amaya Tuka Ahmedin, both who would leave for
00:07:19 the lobby and for Duma Ahmed, who would exit onto the staircase to be found and saved by
00:07:24 the Paddington crew. Biruk said to the operator, can you come as soon as you can please and
00:07:31 was told there were lots of fire engines there. Biruk added that there was a lot of smoke
00:07:37 in the flat and in the building and the windows was already burning up. CRO Howson did not
00:07:45 tell Biruk and others to leave the flat at that point. She instructed him to take steps
00:07:50 to block the smoke coming in. She asked Biruk if he could find out the flat number from an adult
00:07:56 and the phone was passed over to a man that is likely to be Bernard Raymond. Biruk is not recorded
00:08:04 as speaking again on the call transcript or the tape. Upon the phone being passed over, CRO Howson
00:08:12 asked if she had been talking to the speaker's child but before he could respond the man said,
00:08:18 oh my god, fire is coming through and that the smoke's coming through the window.
00:08:24 Shortly after the line went dead, the control room did not call back.
00:08:32 This is one of several calls in the 10-minute period between 0130 and just after 140 received
00:08:38 by the control operators that indicated a whole building fire and with calls especially indicating
00:08:45 that the fire had adversely affected the top floor, none of the occupants were told to evacuate
00:08:50 the building. As you've already heard this morning and yesterday, the 999 calls from the top floor
00:08:57 did lead to a number of service requests. Despite these service requests, it is a fact
00:09:02 that no deployments were made to floor 23 for the purposes of rescue until after 208. As addressed
00:09:09 to you in the presentation for Debbie Lamprell, there was a breakdown in communication between
00:09:14 North West Fire Rescue and Services and the LFB which led to a deployment to Debbie's empty flat
00:09:21 at flat 161 to rescue 10 people rather than to the flat where she was which was number 201.
00:09:31 The two long calls from flat 201 by Debbie Lamprell and Jessica Urbano Ramirez provide
00:09:38 accounts of the deterioration of the conditions in the bedroom in flat 201 where occupants had
00:09:44 sought shelter. In the earlier presentations today, you have heard about the content of both
00:09:51 Debbie's call and Jessica's call. Four points are important. First, both Debbie and Jessica relayed
00:09:59 that thick smoke was coming into the room and the fact that they were having difficulties breathing
00:10:04 was clear. Second, in both calls the presence of children and a young child were identified.
00:10:13 Third, the development of flames at the window of the bedroom was relayed. However, by way of fourth
00:10:20 point, in both calls the occupants were instructed to remain where they were pending rescue.
00:10:27 At the end of the respective calls, at around 0221, the callers had become unresponsive.
00:10:36 Professor Purser's analysis indicates that the conditions in the bedroom of flat 201 would have
00:10:41 significantly worsened at around 0152 to 0156 resulting in rapidly deteriorating conditions.
00:10:49 From around this time until 0210, there was progressively increasing risk of collapse
00:10:55 if the occupants attempted to walk unassisted down the staircase. He suggests that after this time,
00:11:01 the risk of collapse and death was high. Based on the approximate time of unconsciousness of Debbie
00:11:08 Lamprell and Jessica Urbano Ramirez identified by reference to the 99 calls and the tapes,
00:11:15 Professor Purser assesses the likely time of death of all of the occupants of the bedroom
00:11:20 in flat 201 from inhalation of the smoke and gases to be around 0245.
00:11:28 The archaeology evidence establishes that Berkhty and Biruk died in close proximity to one another
00:11:34 in the bedroom of flat 201. The medical cause of death can be properly recorded in the
00:11:42 report as inhalation of fire fumes or an alternative similar formulation such as along
00:11:53 the lines suggested by Mr Mansfield QC this morning. That can be done, we say, in preference
00:12:00 to the less specific formulation of consistent with the effects of fire currently found in the
00:12:05 final post-mortem reports. That alternative fumes or smoke related formulation is respectfully
00:12:13 suggested because it combines the pathological findings with the toxicity evidence with the
00:12:21 now known other facts in relation to first the spread of fire and smoke and secondly the telephone
00:12:29 calls including their content. In its final conclusion, it is open to the inquiry to take
00:12:35 into account all those matters. May I conclude by reflecting again on this mother and son.
00:12:45 Berkhty made a mark on Grenfell. She was involved in the life of her building.
00:12:51 There are photographs of her at a meeting of the Grenfell Compact in July 2015 where you can see
00:12:57 her in attendance with Biruk sitting on her lap. She is there with other men and women of the tower,
00:13:03 some of whom died and some of whom have given evidence to you. By all accounts,
00:13:09 Berkhty had made a life in this country and she was seeking to grow that life.
00:13:14 Biruk Huffton, like Jessica, was one of the students at the Kensington Aldridge Academy
00:13:20 and you are going to hear about others. His death is also a loss to that school community
00:13:27 just across the road. Like Jessica, it is amazing that Biruk as a young child was able to speak so
00:13:34 clearly and authoritatively to the control room operator when he had so much to fear.
00:13:41 His initiative and courage are obvious. Finally, may I pay tribute to all of the extended family
00:13:49 and friends of Berkhty and Biruk and to the awful loss they suffered that night and have been
00:13:55 suffering since. These are people who came from a difficult life in Ethiopia and Eritrea
00:14:02 and have confronted something unexpectedly terrible here. There are so many people that
00:14:08 miss Berkhty and Biruk greatly and preparing this presentation has very much brought that home to us.
00:14:17 Thank you, sir. Thank you very much, Mr. Friedman.
00:14:21 At this point, I think it would be right for us to have another short break.
00:14:28 So, we shall rise now and resume if that is convenient at a quarter to three. Thank you very much.
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00:51:34 yes Mr Chairman I would now invite Ms. Talia Maraj to come up to the podium please and give her presentation on behalf of the family of Raymond Moses Bernard flat 201 floor 23
00:51:49 recovered from that flat on that floor
00:51:52 yes
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00:52:08 Sir Morbic, Ms. Astofan, Mr. Akhbor, good afternoon. I'm grateful for the extra time that has been afforded to allow the family members of Moses to settle and to
00:52:24 join this afternoon's presentation. Raymond Moses Bernard was born on the 22nd of May 1954 in a small village in Pinal in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. He was 63 years old when he died. Sir, members of the panel, I will refer to Raymond as Moses throughout the presentation.
00:52:54 Which is the name by which he was affectionately called by his family members and friends. Moses was the third of seven children of Rose and Ben Bernard. And he survived by his siblings, Hollis, Jamal, Marvel, and Bernadette who is sitting with us today in this afternoon's presentation.
00:53:24 He was a very good friend of his and he was very happy to be part of this evening's proceedings. She had attended the commemorations some four years ago and had delivered presentations on behalf of her siblings and her mother who were at the time in back in Trinidad.
00:53:49 He was a member of the Pinal Roman Catholic School. He later joined his parents in London in 1969 and attended the Isaac Newton Boys School in Ladbroke Grove. Moses and his parents, Ben and Rose, were members of the Windrush generation who came to this country from the Commonwealth Caribbean.
00:54:15 As you know between the periods 1948 and 1971, responding to the call to rebuild the motherland England in the post-war years.
00:54:28 After completing school, Moses qualified as an electrical engineer following an apprenticeship and he worked at the House of Lords and the House of Commons. Bernadette, his sister, recalled during her presentation at the commemorations that their entire family was very proud of Moses's achievement.
00:54:55 Moses had four children, two daughters with Sonia to whom he was married. Marlene, who has joined us for this afternoon's presentation, was born in 1973 and she attended, as you may recall, the commemorations making presentations on behalf of her side of the family.
00:55:21 And Celino, who was born in 1978. Moses also had two other children, including his son, Julian, who was born in 1978 and Julian, sir, had also attended the commemorations and he's joining us watching the proceedings remotely.
00:55:41 Moses also had three grandchildren. He moved into flat 201 on the top floor of Grenfell Tower in 1986, having commenced his tenancy with RBKC in July of that year.
00:56:03 As you've heard and seen from the floor plan, flat 201 was a one-bedroom flat on the east side of the tower. So by June of 2017, he'd been living at Grenfell Tower for over 30 years.
00:56:27 Moses had a deep love of music. He had been a sound man for the Gemini sound system and Bernadette remembers him in his early twenties having long flowing locks resembling a free-spirited lion.
00:56:47 Along with close friends, he also ran a nightclub called Embassy in Shepherd's Bush playing reggae and soul music.
00:56:57 Moses' personality was warm and affectionate, like the Caribbean island where he'd been born.
00:57:05 He never lost his love for Trinidad or the West Indies cricket team, which he supported with a passion.
00:57:13 During the commemorations, Marlene recalled the good times of the 1980s when her father's beloved West Indies cricket team was beating everyone in the world.
00:57:26 He had a genuine love for all things positive – music, culture, the arts, a game of tour dominoes, animals, and his dog Marley, who sadly died with him in the fire.
00:57:47 Turning now, if I may, to vulnerability, which placed Moses at risk in the event of a fire.
00:58:01 Bernadette has provided detailed evidence of her brother's vulnerability in her face to witness statement and I provided the reference for the record.
00:58:15 And I've summarized aspects of this statement in part.
00:58:20 Moses was diagnosed with arthritis and he had suffered from its effect for 10 years prior to the fire.
00:58:28 The archaeologists have also confirmed the diagnosis of osteoarthritis from their examination of his remains.
00:58:37 The arthritis affected his legs and as he got older his mobility deteriorated.
00:58:45 He walked with the assistance of a cane and had increasing difficulty leaving his flat.
00:58:53 In fact, there were times when he was actually unable to leave the flat because of the pain.
00:59:00 He had difficulty climbing the stairs to the 23rd floor and exiting the building without the use of the lift.
00:59:09 Bernadette recalls writing to the TMO on Moses' behalf as far back as around 2010, requesting that he be rehoused because of his mobility difficulties.
00:59:23 She followed up with additional letters to RBKC and the TMO.
00:59:28 But received no response.
00:59:32 In any event, RBKC and the TMO had never requested or conducted a risk assessment of Moses' housing needs following his reported ill health, mobility impairment and of course his age.
00:59:50 As we know, there were no peeps for vulnerable residents in the event of a fire.
00:59:56 In his case, he was a vulnerable resident. His mobility was impaired and he was elderly.
01:00:05 Bernadette also recalls that Moses was concerned about fire safety in Grenfell Tower and that he thought that there was a fire escape on the roof to which he had access in the event of an emergency.
01:00:25 We of course know that that was not the case.
01:00:29 Turning to the events of Moses' final movements, the evening of the 13th into the morning of the 14th of June 2017.
01:00:44 Moses returned to Grenfell Tower at 5.20 on the evening of the 13th of June from visiting his friend Karen McMillan at her home earlier that day.
01:00:59 He is seen, like other residents, on the CCTV footage in the lift lobby at 5.20 walking with the assistance of his kin.
01:01:11 Later that evening, Emma Banham visited him in his flat at around 8.30 and spent around an hour with him.
01:01:23 She recalls them chatting during the visit and that Moses was sitting on the sofa in the living room.
01:01:31 The events on the 23rd floor.
01:01:35 Moses was in flat 201 when the fire started and as you've heard he provided refuge to a number of other residents and persons present in the tower that night.
01:01:51 You've already heard evidence earlier today to some length of the upward migration of a number of persons to the 23rd floor.
01:02:02 And you've also heard of Faduma Ahmed's recollection that there were people standing in the front door area of flat 201, which she describes as a flat that was opposite to the lift in the corner.
01:02:19 And you would recall that Mr. Friedman, Queen's counsel, took us to the floor plan of the 23rd floor and you'd recall the location of flat 201.
01:02:32 So, members of the panel, I will read an extract from Faduma's statement.
01:02:39 And this is because paragraphs 12 to 16 encapsulate, I think, the atmosphere and the deteriorating conditions in flat 201.
01:02:52 And assist our understanding of Moses's experiences in the period leading up to the final moments of his life.
01:03:05 Beginning at paragraph 12, Faduma recalls,
01:03:11 We were able to get into flat 201, although I had never been in the flat before and I did not know whose flat it was.
01:03:23 Inside the flat there was some smoke, but a lot less than the lobby, and I could see the fire at the windows.
01:03:33 I was standing in the corridor and could look along the hall and see fire appearing in front of the living room window.
01:03:44 We stood in the corridor of the flat.
01:03:47 I think there were about ten people there and we were crowded around the entrance door and hallway.
01:03:56 I've been shown pictures of people by the police and identified some of these.
01:04:03 There was Debbie Lamprell, as you've heard, her male friend Gary Maunders,
01:04:09 and she recalls often seeing Debbie and Gary together because Debbie had lived on her floor.
01:04:15 There was also my neighbor Amal Achmedin from flat 166, who was also on my floor.
01:04:23 She was with her cousin Amina and daughter Amaya.
01:04:28 There was also an Afro-Caribbean man, who I now know was Raymond Bernard,
01:04:37 and I think he was a tenant of flat 201.
01:04:41 There was also Berkhty Hafton with her teenage son, Baruch.
01:04:46 It was hard to recognize people and we couldn't talk to each other because of the smoke.
01:04:54 By now, the smoke was going into our mouths and we could hardly breathe.
01:05:02 The front door of the flat was open a little and people were standing along the corridor near the door.
01:05:10 People were acting in different ways. Some were calm, some were panicking and trying to cover their mouths.
01:05:18 We were all hiding in the corridor of the flat to get away from the flames near the window
01:05:24 and because the lobby was so thick with smoke.
01:05:29 I think people were suffering because they were not able to breathe.
01:05:36 The smoke was affecting people's minds and making it impossible to even think.
01:05:44 I was feeling dizzy. It was like a gas.
01:05:50 Amal and I began to go to the bathroom to try and bring water out and throw into the fire in the window.
01:06:00 We found a washing up bowl and about three times we carried water in the plastic bowl through to the living room.
01:06:08 We threw the water on the window because the top of the window was now on fire.
01:06:16 The window opens in two ways.
01:06:20 It can open completely on its hinges like a normal window or it can tilt forward at the top.
01:06:27 It was tilted open at the top and the top had caught fire and was burning away.
01:06:34 We were trying to throw water onto the window to try and put it out.
01:06:40 I was worried because I could see that the television was close to the window
01:06:46 and I was worried that it might become dangerous because of the fire and the water and so we stopped.
01:06:55 I realized that the water was not helping.
01:06:59 I went back to the area just inside the front door near the boiler.
01:07:04 At that time I don't know how many people were still standing there.
01:07:09 There are about ten people next to the door and some were saying that they could not breathe.
01:07:15 We felt trapped as the fire had broken into the flat through the window
01:07:21 and was in the living room and thick smoke from the lobby was coming into the flat.
01:07:28 We were trapped with fire from one side that was starting to come in
01:07:35 and thick smoke from the other side.
01:07:39 I realized that I needed to get out and so I came out of the flat onto the lobby
01:07:48 which was full of thick black smoke.
01:07:51 I ran out of flat 201 straight into the stairway.
01:07:55 I couldn't see anything in the lobby because it was so full of smoke
01:08:02 but the door to the stair was very close.
01:08:08 And that's the extent of the extract from her statement to which I will refer.
01:08:15 Moses' assistance to others on the night of the fire is entirely consistent with his generosity.
01:08:25 Marlene, his daughter, recalls this of her father during her commemoration presentation.
01:08:35 His kind nature was his weakness as he would often leave himself
01:08:43 without. Moses died as he lived, sharing, looking out for others
01:08:55 and extending his heart of kindness.
01:08:59 In Marlene's words, providing refuge for the up to ten persons in his one bedroom flat that night.
01:09:11 And you're reminded of the names of those who sought refuge in flat 201
01:09:20 by Mr. Friedman in his presentation earlier today.
01:09:26 Moses' family members have surmised that he may have been focused on taking care of the other occupants in the flat
01:09:39 putting out the fire and trying to control the smoke.
01:09:43 And that this may have accounted for the fact that he didn't make any calls either to the emergency services
01:09:49 or to his family members.
01:09:53 But although Moses made no calls to the emergency services that night
01:10:00 or in fact as I mentioned to anyone else
01:10:03 he's heard during a 999 call to which Mr. Friedman referred
01:10:10 and that is the call made by Brooke which is timed at around 1.32am
01:10:16 and which lasted for about four minutes.
01:10:20 And I've already provided the reference to the transcript of this call.
01:10:26 Just putting his contact in context if I may.
01:10:31 The phone was passed to Moses after CRO Housen asked to speak to an adult
01:10:39 in order to ascertain the details of the flat number and the occupants in the flat.
01:10:45 Moses is heard after the phone is passed to him exclaiming
01:10:51 Oh my God the fire is coming through
01:10:55 and he also reported smoke coming through the window
01:10:59 as you've heard earlier.
01:11:02 CRO Housen advised Moses to shut the windows
01:11:07 and told him they would get the fire brigade
01:11:11 this is at 1.30am
01:11:13 to come and check that everything's okay once the fire had been put out.
01:11:19 Now the call ended with CRO Housen asking Moses for the flat number
01:11:25 to which there was no response.
01:11:29 I mentioned that the call had lasted for around four minutes
01:11:33 and sir members of the panel you're aware that there were no successful deployments
01:11:38 to the 23rd floor.
01:11:45 Turning now to Professor Purcell's evidence
01:11:49 and his analysis of the uptake of asphyxiate gases.
01:11:53 Having reviewed the transcripts of the 999 calls in particular
01:11:58 that of Debbie Lamprell and Jessica
01:12:01 Professor Purcell concluded that Moses and the other occupants of flat 201
01:12:08 were gradually overcome by the effects of asphyxiate gases in the smoke
01:12:14 becoming semi-conscious and then eventually unconscious
01:12:19 between approximately 218 to 221.
01:12:23 He concluded that Moses like the other occupants in 201
01:12:28 were exposed to increasingly dense smoke and asphyxiate gases
01:12:33 for a period of about 57 minutes
01:12:37 and he gave us the bracket of around 1.30am to 2.24am.
01:12:45 May I remind you sir and members of the panel
01:12:49 of some key aspects and the breakdown in Professor Purcell's evidence
01:12:56 of the likely effects of the asphyxiate gases on the occupants during this period.
01:13:03 The lobby.
01:13:05 Professor Purcell considered that by 129
01:13:10 there was significant smoke penetration from the lobby into the flat
01:13:16 and that although occupants were inhibited by the dense smoke in the lobby
01:13:22 of floor 23 from coming across the lobby at this stage
01:13:26 they could have done so had they been encouraged.
01:13:30 Inside the flat he pointed out that by 1.36
01:13:36 the living room was being affected by the exterior fire
01:13:40 and you would have recalled that from his evidence
01:13:43 he had been expected for the significance in relation to 201.
01:13:47 That despite the deteriorating conditions
01:13:51 the occupants remained engaged in various activities in the flat between 1.50 and 2.
01:13:57 And this is of course contextualized and quite focused in your minds
01:14:01 because we have heard in detail this morning of the evidence
01:14:05 of Debbie's call and Jessica's 999
01:14:10 from Ms. Monroe, Queen's Council's presentation.
01:14:14 There was fire spread outside the bedroom between 1.52 and 1.56
01:14:20 causing rapid deterioration of the conditions in the flat.
01:14:25 The conditions in the lobby and the stairs.
01:14:29 Professor Purcell also noted that by 1.50 to 2.10
01:14:34 Moses and the other occupants in flat 201 would have been in danger
01:14:40 of collapse in the lobby or the stair from asphyxiant gases.
01:14:44 So this of course affects the viability of safe evacuation at this stage
01:14:50 which is why I highlighted at this juncture.
01:14:53 Turning your focus, sir, and members of the panel
01:14:57 to Moses' peculiarity, his vulnerability.
01:15:03 Given Moses' mobility impairment based on Professor Purcell's evidence
01:15:11 it would of course have taken him longer than it would have an able-bodied person
01:15:17 to descend to the stairs and of course he would have risked a longer exposure
01:15:24 to smoke on descent at this stage.
01:15:28 Time of death.
01:15:32 Referring to again Professor Purcell's evidence on this
01:15:38 Professor Purcell estimates that Moses and the other occupants of flat 201
01:15:44 died sometime after 2.23 and gives an approximate time of death at 2.45.
01:15:51 You were reminded of this in the other presentations.
01:15:54 And I just also highlight that the pathologist, Dr. Fiegernerl,
01:16:00 agrees with Professor Purcell's approach with an approximate time frame
01:16:06 or window when recording the time of death.
01:16:11 Following the fire, Moses was reported missing on the 14th of June
01:16:18 by Karen McMillan who contacted the Metropolitan Police Casualty Bureau
01:16:25 as did Bernadette on the 17th of June.
01:16:29 So Karen contacted them on the 14th and Bernadette followed up on the 17th
01:16:35 and of course this ties in with the evidence you've heard in module 4
01:16:40 of the desperate efforts of family members trying to locate their loved ones.
01:16:47 The archaeological and anthropological findings.
01:16:52 Moses' remains were located in flat 201 on the 17th of June 2017.
01:17:00 The archaeological and DVI recovery documentation suggests that his remains
01:17:07 were found in the bedroom in close proximity to that of Anne Maidris,
01:17:12 Brooke, Berkety and Debbie Lamprell.
01:17:16 His identification was confirmed with the assistance of forensic odontologists
01:17:24 who examined his dental remains recovered from the flat.
01:17:29 Turning now to medical cause of death.
01:17:34 The initial medical cause of death was confirmed by Dr. Fitzpatrick Swallow
01:17:42 on the 10th of October 2017 as consistent with the effects of vial.
01:17:51 You've been taken by other presentations earlier today
01:17:57 to Professor Purser's formulation on the medical cause of death.
01:18:04 And I will highlight if I may Dr. Fiegener's evidence in this respect.
01:18:12 Dr. Fiegener in considering the appropriateness of recording the medical cause of death
01:18:20 as asphyxia from asphyxia gases or inhalation of asphyxia gases
01:18:28 in light of Professor Purser's scientific analysis of Grenfell Tower
01:18:35 concluded that given the limited pathological material available
01:18:41 the appropriate medical cause of death to be recorded was consistent
01:18:49 with the effects of fire.
01:18:51 And I've given the transcript reference for this aspect of his evidence
01:18:57 to this stenographer.
01:18:59 And sir and members of the panel you will recall that he was specifically asked
01:19:05 if whether he could provide an opinion in the light of Professor Purser's evidence
01:19:11 by Mr. Millett, Queen's counsel.
01:19:17 Turning now if I may to my concluding remarks on behalf of the family of Raymond Moses Bernard.
01:19:29 In the five years since the fire and during the life of this inquiry
01:19:36 Moses' mother Rose and brother Michael who started the process with us
01:19:44 because as I mentioned Bernadette had delivered commemorations
01:19:48 on behalf of members of the family in Trinidad.
01:19:52 Rose and Michael had been in Trinidad when we started this journey.
01:19:57 They are sadly no longer with us.
01:20:00 They have passed away and of course we'll sadly not see the conclusion
01:20:08 and findings of this inquiry.
01:20:13 Sir, members of the panel,
01:20:17 may I leave you with the reflections from the presentations of Bernadette
01:20:25 Julian who is following us remotely
01:20:29 and Marlene who sits with us today.
01:20:35 Moses was an admirable man,
01:20:39 a respected brother,
01:20:42 a valued uncle,
01:20:45 son, father, grandfather and friend.
01:20:51 He was admired for his strength,
01:20:55 his kindness, his patience
01:21:00 and above all his belief
01:21:04 that good would always prevail over evil.
01:21:10 Thank you.
01:21:13 Thank you very much Ms. Mata.
01:21:16 Well, that concludes the work of the inquiry for today
01:21:24 but we shall resume tomorrow when we shall hear presentations
01:21:29 in relation to other people who died in the fire.
01:21:34 And we shall do that at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning.
01:21:39 So for now the inquiry will rise
01:21:44 and we shall resume as I say at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning please.
01:21:47 Thank you very much.
01:22:08 Thank you.