Grenfell Tower fire scene: Survivors post messages of hope

Jonathan Mitchell15 June 2017

Grieving Londoners have left hundreds of tributes near the scene of the deadly inferno in Grenfell Tower.

A wall of the Latymer Community Church has been transformed overnight with messages to the victims of the blaze, with flowers also left at the scene.

Wellwishers have visited from as far as Glasgow to leave tributes on the mural, with messages left in English and Arabic.

At least 12 people died when a huge blaze broke out at Grenfell Tower in the early hours of Wednesday morning, with the number expected to rise.

One heartbreaking message read: "My lovely Nadia and Mierna, Fatima. I don't know why you are not answering my calls but I am not giving up."

Other messages called for "justice" for the victims, while one simply read "why did this need to happen?"

Grenfell Tower tribute messages - In pictures

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A poster desperately appealing to find Mariem Elgwahry, who was last seen on the 19th floor when the blaze broke out and hasn't been heard from since 2.30am on Wednesday, has also been left on the wall.

Neelam Patel, 31, is head of economics at nearby St Charles School, which sheltered people in the aftermath of the tragedy yesterday.

Visiting the tributes on Thursday morning, she said: "It's just absolute heartbreaking. Obviously I saw images on TV before I got down here."

Grenfell Tower Firefighters - In pictures

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"To see people trapped in the tower on the top floor - it's just heartbreaking.

"I think the tributes are amazing. They've been doing so much stuff on the news of how his community is divided because obviously it's the richest borough in London but everyone just came together."

Smoke could still be seen billowing out of Grenfell Tower on Thursday morning as firefighters continued to search the site for more victims.

Hundreds of homes were destroyed in the fire and residents have taken shelter in a nearby sports centre.

Rick Fitzgerald, 32, passed the tributes on his commute.

He said: "It's very devastating because we have friends who live nearby in tower blocks.

"It's very nice to see the community coming together in such a tragedy."

Names of some of the victims have started to emerge, with numerous people still missing and families desperately searching.

Reverend Mark O'Donoghue, who is the Dean of Kensington, opened the doors of Christ Church on Wednesday to victims and their families.

He said: "We did what we always do - give someone a shoulder to cry on - probably more than anything somewhere to get some peace and tranquillity.

"This is a massively diverse borough - you've got wealth with some of the worst deprivation in the country in this area in.

"What you see here is all kinds of people coming together."

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