30-year-old Rania Ibrham lived on the 24th floor of Grenfell Tower in London. However, she had left her apartment, entering another on the 23rd floor with her two young children, aged three and five, when the blaze which overpowered the whole building began.
Rania Ibrham opens the door to other trapped residents
As the smoke filled the corridor outside the apartment, Ibrham starts to stream on Facebook Live. She can be heard on the video footage calling for help. Another woman in the room tells her to not open the door, as the smoke from the blaze would come in and would be bad for her children.
However, Ibrham ignores the woman as she hears people shouting outside in the corridor. She opens the door to let other trapped residents into the apartment.
Calling for help at the window
She heads to the window of the apartment looking out at the night and shouts for help to people on the ground below.Throughout the video she can be heard praying in Arabic. Police below are telling everyone to get out of their apartments but Ibrham asks how can they get out when the building is on fire below them. The footage ends with Ibrham and her two children still missing.
Her sister, who spoke anonymously, told IBTimes that Rania, originally from Aswan in Egypt, worked as a caregiver and charity volunteer.
She had dropped out of university for family reasons and spent her time helping the disabled, as well as homeless, vulnerable children. She went on to describe her as a happy and loving person who spent her life always helping others. When listening to the video, she said it was obvious Rania was helping others during the Grenfell Tower fire, by letting them into the apartment.
Rania Ibrham stuck in her 24th floor flat with her two kids aged 3 and 5,made the FB live video. She has not been since her phone cut off pic.twitter.com/I7rb95CFR0
— DilSe Radio 🎤 (@DilSeRadio) June 15, 2017
The sister said Ibrham lived on the opposite side of the tower from where the blaze began, and tried to leave the building, but was told by authorities to stay inside.
At 2:45 a.m. Rania sent a Snapchat message in which she asked her family and friends in Arabic to forgive her and said goodbye.
Grieving family waits for news
Her grieving family is still waiting for news, as it is unknown if she and her children are among the dead, or are being treated in hospital. Her husband was away at the time of the fire but is believed to have returned to London after hearing the news.
RANIA IBRHAM A 30 yr old, mother of 2 girls. An Interview with her friend. As they don't know if they survived. -> https://t.co/tGia8EpU0Q
— Khaled Alaboudi (@Khaleds_Life) June 15, 2017
The Independent reports that so far 17 people have been confirmed dead in the Grenfell Tower fire, which burned down most of the 24-floor apartment building, which contained 120 homes.
According to officials, 78 residents were taken to the hospital. 18 of them are in critical condition, but many more are still missing. It is believed there would have been several hundred residents in the building when the fire started.
Firefighters continue to search the wreckage but Dany Cotton, the London Fire Commissioner said that an unknown number of people were still in the tower block, but that they didn’t expect to find more survivors.
