118 | October• 2018
of job, large numbers of children and
the elderly. There were teachers in
there,andpupils,somedueinclass-
roomsthenextmorningataschool
justnorthofthetower.Grenfellhad
ahairdresser,acaterer,acleaner,a
securityguard.Awomanonthe16th
floormadeartinherretirement,and
amanonthe21stmadewebsites.
There was an architecture-school
graduate who rented right at the
top; a young lecturer in criminology
who was bunking with his aunt. The
brothers who lived on Talabi’s floor
were recent refugees from the Syrian
war.Amanonthe23rdhadmoved
to London, decades ago, to escape
conflict in Afghanistan. A Suda-
nese man was visiting his mothermoment saw that his plan – to de-
scendholdingthebedsheetsinone
hand,hisdaughterintheother–was
not going to work.
Ashisbeliefintheplanfailed,
sodidhisstrength.Herealisedhe
couldnotpullhimselfbackinside.
He kicked for a foothold beneath
him, but the building’s panel-
lingwastooslipperyandhisfeet
wouldn’t stick. He stopped kicking
andclungtothewindowframe.
No-Win Decisions
Onthe22ndfloor,amotherofthree
offeredupprayers.Onthe17th,a
family reciteddu’asfrom the Koran.
Therewerepeopleofallreligionsin
the tower, people who did every sort
Smoke rising from the building the day after ire engulfed the 24-storey towerPHOT0: VICTORIA JONES/PA ARCHIVE