Grenfell Tower: Tributes paid to Rania Ibrahim and daughters

Rania and daughters Image copyright Grenfell Inquiry
Image caption Rania Ibrahim and her daughters Fathia, known as Fou-Fou, and Hania, lived on the 23rd floor of Grenfell Tower

A woman whose sister and two young nieces died in the Grenfell Tower fire said she is "plagued by questions" about the blaze.

Rania Ibrahim, 30, and her daughters Fathia, five, and Hania, three, lived on the 23rd floor of the building.

Her sister Rasha told the public inquiry her sister "loved life".

The second day of the inquiry has also heard from the husband of Maria Del Pilar Burton, who is regarded as the final of the 72 victims.

Mrs Burton, 74, who had dementia, died in January after her health deteriorated following the fire.

In an emotional tribute, Nicholas Burton said it took away her "dignity and everything we had in this world".

Image copyright Grenfell Inquiry
Image caption Maria Del Pilar Burton died in hspital in January

Relatives of all 72 victims will be given the chance to commemorate loved ones during the inquiry.

The inquiry will look into all the deaths of the June 2017 fire.

A total of 12 people are due to be remembered on the inquiry's second day, including three generations of the Choucair family.

Families are being given as long as they need to tell the inquiry about their loved ones through a mixture of words, pictures and videos.

Image copyright Grenfell Inquiry
Image caption Rania Ibrahim moved to the UK from Egypt in 2009

Rasha Ibrahim said her sister moved to the UK from Egypt in 2009 but the pair remained very close.

In a statement read to the inquiry by an interpreter, Mrs Ibrahim said: "It is so important for me to understand how I have lost my beloved sister and my children have lost their beloved cousins."

She also said she still hears her Rania Ibrahim's voice and said her sister had been "happiness walking on earth".

Her niece Fathia, known as Fou-Fou, had a "very strong personality", the inquiry was told.

Maria del Pilar Burton, known as Pily, was born in Spain in the 1940s and was one was one of the very first residents in Grenfell Tower.

Image copyright Grenfell Inquiry
Image caption Rasha Ibrahim showed the inquiry the last picture taken of her and her sister Rania in January 2017

Nicholas Burton, who was with his wife for 34 years, told the inquiry "she could have chosen anybody and I don't know why she chose me".

"I loved my wife and I was in awe of her," he said. "She was an extraordinary woman."

He said the fire had a "terrible effect" on Pily, who had been diagnosed with dementia in 2015, and made her very distressed.

He said: "How do you explain what had happened to a person in her condition? That our house had gone, that our dog had gone, our good friends and neighbours may have passed?"

Image copyright Grenfell Inquiry
Image caption Maria Del Pilar Burton was described as an "extraordinary woman"

Mr Burton had to have life-saving surgery in the wake of the fire due to an enlarged heart. His wife's condition had worsened by the time he emerged and she suffered a stroke in January. She never recovered and died on 29 January.

He said: "She was a unique, beautiful, exceptional person until this tragedy had taken it away.

"Let me tell you, no matter what indignities my wife had to suffer, my Pily was perfect."

Image copyright Joanna Sanderson
Image caption Debbie Lamprell was 45 years old

At the inquiry

By BBC reporter Emma Harrison

Many of the survivors, bereaved and residents of Grenfell Tower hug as they filed in for the second day of commemoration hearings.

Some are wearing Justice for Grenfell and Grenfell United T-shirts.

Photographs of those who lost their lives are played during the tributes and some have prepared personal films about their loved ones.

Laughter fills the room during lighter moments of the tributes, as family members recall funny stories or traits of their loved ones.

But the tears continue to flow as those reading emotional tributes struggle to maintain composure throughout their statements.

The support and empathy towards those talking is strong, and the audience shows appreciation for their bravery with applause.

As the first day had already witnessed, the common theme so far is how incomprehensible their deaths were and the need, as one family member put it, "to find out the truth".


A tribute to Debbie Lamprell, a 45-year-old safety officer at Opera Holland Park, from her mother was read by one of her former colleagues, Michael Volpe.

Miriam Lamprell said: "When I think of Debbie, I think of her laughing. She was always laughing."

She said her daughter was happy and "did not want more, she felt blessed".

The night of the fire, she said Debbie had messaged her to say she had got home. "I thought that's OK she's safe. I went to bed and got up in the morning and I didn't have a daughter."

"I am bereft without her. If she had died a normal death I would have been able to hold her and say goodbye.

"I feel a part of me has been ripped out. Nothing since has been worth it any more."

Image copyright Grenfell Inquiry
Image caption Memorial stone at Opera Holland Park, where Debbie worked

The inquiry was played a video of her memorial at Opera Holland Park, where friends and fellow staff paid tribute and then sang Amazing Grace.