When the Grenfell Tower in London became engulfed in flames, Marco Gottardi and Gloria Trevisan, both 27, were trapped on the 23rd floor with no way out. They spent their final moments calling their families to say goodbye.

Italian couple moved to London to follow their dreams

Gottardi and Trevisan were architects who moved to London from their home in Italy, as Trevisan found it difficult to find a job that paid more than around $335 per month. They reportedly chose an apartment on a high floor in Grenfell Tower because of its wonderful view of the city of London.

That choice ended up being a bad one when the fire engulfed the entire tower block.

The New York Post quotes the Italian media as saying that the first call Trevisan made was to her family in Italy, to let them know there was a fire on the third floor of the building. At that time, she wasn’t worried, as she believed the firefighters would put out the fire long before it reached the top floors of the tower block.

However, things went from bad to worse as the blaze started taking over the entire Grenfell Tower building.

As things progressed, Trevisan’s mother asked to speak with her boyfriend, who was trying to keep everyone calm. Gottardi said everything was OK, as the firefighters had arrived.

Smoke takes over the 23rd floor, trapping the young Italian couple

It was then that her family, who live near Padua in Italy, turned on the television and actually saw the fire consuming Grenfell Tower.

At around that time, Trevisan said in another call to her family that they couldn’t get out of their apartment and that they were blocked by the smoke. At 4.00 a.m. the smoke was pouring into their apartment and Trevisan knew their time was short. She told her parents she was sorry she could never hug them again, saying she had her whole life ahead of her, that it wasn’t fair and that she didn’t want to die.

Trevisan continued by saying she had wanted to help her parents to repay them for everything they did for her, adding that she was about to go to heaven and that she would help them from there. She kept thanking her mother for everything she had done for her, throughout her several calls from the burning tower block. Her mother reportedly recorded their final conversation as it happened.

As reported by the Sun, Trevisan’s father told the Italian media that Trevisan and Gottardi wanted to go downstairs, but all they could see were flames from the intense fire and the smoke was getting more intense. While Trevisan spoke to her mother, Gottardi was trying to reassure his father, Giannino Gottardi.

Initially he told his family that everything was under control. Gottardi did say there was a lot of smoke, but that the family mustn’t worry as he and Trevisan were waiting to be rescued from the fire. He did, however, say that when they opened the front door of the apartment, they could see that there was too much smoke and the lifts were apparently blocked.

In his final words to his father, Gottardi said there was nothing more the couple could do but wait for a miracle. Giannino can’t get that call out of his head. From that moment on communications broke down and the families could no longer reach Trevisan or Gottardi.

Firefighters continued to work through the burned out building

So far the number of dead from the fire has reached 30 victims and authorities believe that number will grow, as more sad stories of the victims in the Grenfell Tower fire come to light.

Firefighters believe no more survivors will be found in the building as they gradually work their way through the shattered tower block that was once home to 600 people.

Meanwhile many are asking why the fire happened in the first place. Sky News explains more about the fire in Grenfell Tower in the video below:
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