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Daily Mail
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
'I just remember stepping over so many bodies': Harrowing moment daughter and her desperate family battle to escape Grenfell blaze is relived in new Netflix documentary
A family who lived in Grenfell Tower have detailed the harrowing moment they battled to escape the deadly inferno in Netflix 's new documentary on the tragedy that shook London. Marcio Gomes, his wife Andreia and their two daughters, Luana and Megan had lived in flat 183 on the 21st floor of Grenfell in North Kensington for 10 years. Andreia was seven months pregnant with their son Logan when the fire broke out on June 14, 2017. The entire family managed to escape the burning 24-floor building, but later in hospital doctors were forced to let Andreia's unborn baby die in order to save her life. In the streaming giants documentary Grenfell: Uncovered, released today, Marcio, now 46, and his eldest daughter Luana detailed the family's desperate escape and the moment they were told Logan would never be born. Perhaps one of the most disturbing recollections of their struggle to get to safety came from Luana, who was just 12 at the time. Speaking about the frantic moments in the smoke-filled stairwell with tears streaming down her face, the clearly traumatised 20-year-old said: 'I just remember stepping on so many bodies.' As charting songs of the time played, glassy-eyed Luana was transported back to the days leading up to the fatal event which changed their lives forever. She remembered her excitement about going into year eight as summer time began. 'I would definitely say I was very bubbly, I was very happy. I always wanted to do good in my grades. I was a good, happy 12-year-old,' she said with a vacant look in her eyes. Luana and her father recalled going out for a family dinner that night before the chaos unfolded. After getting home at around 11.30pm - just 80 minutes before the fire broke out - Marcio played and few games on his X-Box and then headed off to bed as he had work the next day. But he and his family were woken up at 1.15am by a neighbour banging on the door to alert him of the flames which were ripping through the tower block - ultimately saving them from being burnt to death in their sleep. Luana, who sobbed throughout the entire documentary, said: 'Everything was in a rush. We covered ourselves with the blanket that my dad had put in the bathtub, and I grabbed my dog and we just dashed it for the stairwell.' Haunting recordings of Marcio on the phone to a 999 call handler are played, with the desperate father heard shouting: 'Right, lets go girls. Go, go, go. Go through, go down. Let's go now! Keep going.' Speaking to the camera, he described the 'horrific' conditions in the stairwell, which left him 'coughing and gagging a lot'. The family were woken up at 1.15am by a neighbour banging on the door to alert him of the flames which were ripping through the tower block 'I didn't have any idea where they [his family] were. My expectation was they're in front of me,' he said, as recordings of the call handlers telling him firefighters were on the way up to rescue them echoed in the background. However, Luana recalled hearing her father's voice behind her, encouraging her to 'keep going' as she felt the bodies of her neighbours beneath her feet. 'And then it got to a point where I couldn't hear my dad anymore behind me. He sounded like he was, like, far in front of me, like, down the stairwell,' she said. Marcio remembered the terrifying moment he heard Luana scream 'Dad!' and it dawned on him that his girls were in fact behind him further up the stairs. Weeping Luana said: 'I just remember saying "I can't do it anymore", like, I can't carry on. And I remember placing my dog down on the stairwell because I couldn't cope.' That was her last memory inside the burning building before 'everything went pitch black' and she collapsed. More heart-wrenching 999 recordings play of Marcio pleading to go and look for his family, to which the call handler replied: 'You need to go back upstairs and get your girls.' The panicked father can then be heard desperately shouting in between smog-induced coughs and tears: 'Hold the rails, keep coming Luana! Megan, Luana, come on. Come on come on...' It was then he realised his eldest child had passed out from the heavy fumes and smoke inhalation. When he looked between the rails of the stairwell, he could see a 'very faint light'. 'I kind of thought "God, that must be a firefighter". I quickly ran down, and I shouted, I said "My daughter's upstairs",' he said as 999 recordings run of him telling the handler: 'I need to go up and get her. I've got to get her out.' When he tried to go back up the stairs to save them, another firefighter grabbed him from behind and ordered him to keep going down so he could get out. His voice broke as he continued: 'I saw Luana being carried out, but I didn't know where my wife was, I didn't know where Megan was.' Safely outside the blazing building, Marcio found Helen Gebremeskel and her daughter Lulya, who lived on the same floor, and they handed him over to the police. Officers told the worried father they couldn't promise anything, but informed him they were aware his pregnant wife and youngest daughter were still in the building. But firefighters had actually already brought them both to safety, which Marcio somehow all of a sudden knew in his gut. The Grenfell Tower residential building is seen on fire and engulfed in plumed of black smoke on June 14, 2017 He explained how he sighed with relief before he even saw her, before turning around to see Andreia and 10-year-old Megan sitting by a tree. The heavily pregnant and distraught wife asked her husband where their other daughter was. 'Of course, I knew where Luana was,' he said, 'She was to our side. They were resuscitating her.' Thankfully, paramedics put the family in one ambulance all together to get Luana to hospital. 'Next thing I know, I woke up and I was in the ambulance and I was the only one on the bed,' said Luana of her first memory on the outside. Selflessly, all the 12-year-old could think about when she first woke up was her mother and unborn brother. 'I just kept thinking, "Why am I on this bed?", like, "I'm not the priority here. If anyone's the priority, it's my mum", because obviously she was pregnant at the time. And then I just fell back asleep again.' Yet, it wasn't until the family reached King's College Hospital that they realised their heartbreaking plight was far from over. Struggling to get his words out, Marcio recalled the minute doctors came and said they needed to speak to him. 'They said they were going to need to make a call between Andreia and the baby. 'They said "In these circumstances we take the mother's side", and I said "Yeah, I understand that's what you need to do".' He paused, bit his bottom lip and cast his eyes down: 'That's when they said Logan had passed away.' The grieving teary-eyed father added: '72 people died, 18 of them were children, including my son, who was the youngest victim. They were all robbed of whatever they could have become.'
Daily Mail
07-06-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
Body language expert weighs in on Meghan Markle's supposedly awkward moment with her mother at her Grenfell cookbook launch
Today commemorates eight years since Britain's worst residential fire since World War II. The devastating Grenfell Tower fire broke out in the 24-storey block of flats in North Kensington and claimed the lives of 72 people. The response to the national tragedy was phenomenal, with the London Community Foundation raising more than £10million and the British Red Cross raising £7.3million. The Royal Family were quick to show their support, with the late Queen visiting the scene of the fire two days after it broke out, speaking with survivors, relatives of those who died, and volunteers and emergency services workers. Meghan Markle regularly cooked with residents at the Hubb Community Kitchen, a local initiative started to support those affected by the fire. She also collaborated with women affected by the fire on a charity cookbook, Together: Our Community Cookbook, in September 2018, featuring 50 recipes from the women involved and a foreword from the Duchess herself. In 2024, Marie Claire reported that the cookbook had raised £911,000 and sold more than 130,000 copies in its first six months. Meghan's close work with the women she met at the Hubb Community Kitchen marked her first solo project as a member of the Royal Family, as she established her new home in London. Meghan Markle's mother, Doria Ragland, joined the Duke and Duchess for the official launch of the Hubb Community Kitchen's cookbook at an outdoor lunch at Kensington Palace on September 20, 2018 Meghan stands next to her mother as she speaks at the launch event for the Together cookbook The cookbook, which is still available on Amazon, aimed to raise £250,000 to keep the Hubb Community Kitchen going. But the book's resounding success meant more could be done and, in 2019, the kitchen was completely refurbished and opened seven days a week. On September 20, 2018, Meghan's mother, Doria Ragland, joined the Duke and Duchess for the official launch of the cookbook at an outdoor lunch at Kensington Palace. Meghan said she was 'so proud' to live in the British capital as she delivered a three-minute speech without any notes. She described how the charity cookbook was a 'labour of love' and a 'passion project' that she had been working on with the women of the Hubb Community Kitchen for the past nine months. Meghan's mother being at the event was significant, with the Mail's Richard Kay writing at the time: 'So often royal events are stagey, awkward and, let's admit it, unimaginative affairs. 'Doria's presence at Meghan's side at her charity cookbook launch – and her remarks – seemed both instinctive and authentic.' But there was one moment which didn't sit right with some royal observers. During the speech, the Duchess thanked the women for letting her work with them on the project - describing how it 'took a village' to realise her vision. But as Meghan was speaking with a group of women and took a pause, her mother began to speak and was met by a stern look from her daughter. Body language expert Jesús Enrique Rosas described the awkward moment. In a video on his YouTube channel, Jesús, also known as The Body Language Guy, suggested Meghan was 'a little nervous because this was her moment to shine' with her first solo project. But he noticed how everyone looked like they were 'having a good time', with 'lots of genuine smiles' suggesting 'they really liked being around Meghan'. He said: 'At first Meghan's body language is quite relaxed and there is no tension in her eyebrows or her mouth. 'She's just talking and using certain hand gestures to emphasise her words.' But the body language expert claims that as Meghan is about to end a sentence she clasps her hands, signalling the end of a thought. Jesús Enrique Rosas says: 'What gives Meghan's emotions away is the shape of her mouth. Her lips are pressed against each other and are almost completely horizontal. That's a signal of frustration' He adds: 'Doria wanted to say something and she waited for Meghan's body language signal that she had ended her current idea. 'But when Doria begins to speak we can spot a cluster of very concerning body language signals in Meghan. 'Her fingers are so stiff they're almost bending backwards, which is a very clear signal of tension.' He notes that there are multiple signs written on her face. She opens her eyes wider and pushes her jaw forward, displaying a subtle anger. He says: 'What gives Meghan's emotions away is the shape of her mouth. Her lips are pressed against each other and are almost completely horizontal. 'That's a signal of frustration and, if you had to conceal anger and inner tension, you already have a very aggressive reaction in terms of body language.' But despite this awkward moment, many people believe that helping to create the cookbook was one of Meghan's best actions as a working royal. Even Meghan's friend, former tennis champion Serena Williams, jumped in to show her support. 'I used to call you Meghan (and I still do) but dear Duchess of Sussex your first project Together [is] a cookbook bringing women of all cultures together. 'I could not be more excited about it and proud of you,' Serena wrote to Meghan on social media. 'It's beautiful - diversity, inclusivity, coming together in grief or joy - there is just so much love.' In the Sussexes' Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan, the Duchess reflected on the Together cookbook. 'The Grenfell fire left so many families displaced, outside of how many deaths it caused. 'And I remember saying "Well, can we do something? We need to go down there and do something." 'And so, I connected with the women at Al-Manaar, which is a mosque in Grenfell. 'They were living in these hotels and just given meal vouchers for fast food,' Meghan says in the series. 'Over the course of like eight or nine months, I just kept going back and visiting them and I loved these women so much. 'When I watched these women laughing together and grieving together, I said, "Why can't you do this every day of the week?" and they said, "Well, we don't have the funds for it." 'I just looked around. I said, "We should make a cookbook."' 'Actually the first speech I made as a member of the Royal Family was launching this cookbook,' Meghan said. Eight years since the tragedy, the police have announced they are planning to build a full-scale replica of part of Grenfell Tower to secure criminal convictions, it has been reported. The Metropolitan Police has told grieving families that the model, which would take more than a year to build, will help explain how the fire spread in any future trials. However, families fear they may never 'see justice', as criminal trials are not likely to start until 2027, and the bereaved say that this has left them questioning whether the inquiry is too complex for the force. A spokesman for Grenfell Next of Kin, which represents the close families of about half of the deceased, told the Telegraph: 'The trust is broken in the Met Police and the systems. Now they want to build a tower and on and on it goes.' The fire triggered mass protests about building standards, following months of concerns from Grenfell Tower residents about safety following its refurbishment. The final report of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, published last September, concluded that the disaster was the result of 'decades of failure' by government and the construction industry to act on the dangers of flammable materials on high-rise buildings. MEGHAN'S SPEECH IN FULL I'm so privileged to know you. Working on this project for the past nine months has been a tremendous labour of love. I have just recently moved to London and I felt so immediately embraced by the women in the kitchen, by your kindness and to be in this city and be in this room and see how multi-cultural it was. On a personal level I feel so proud to live in a city with so much diversity. This whole country is represented by the people in the kitchen. It's pretty outstanding. There's so many people to thank - I'm extremely grateful because this is my first project and I appreciate your support. It truly took a village to see this through. Everyone has embraced this so fully because it has been a passion project for us all. As I said, this is more than a cookbook and what I mean by that is the power of food is more than just the meal itself, it is the story behind it. And when you get to know the story behind the recipe, you get to know the person behind it and help us celebrate what connects us rather than divides us. That is the ethos of Together. Thank you so much for letting me be part of this and letting me be on this adventure with you, and I'm so excited to see the projects we will continue to do in your community and also how you will inspire people globally by sharing your stories and your recipes. It's so impactful. You can see in just a few days alone what's happened and the book's not out yet. What you have been able to do is a testament to what that means to people. I'm so proud of you. So on that note I know that some of you have started eating, as you should. I'd be the last one to want to let the food get cold so please enjoy your beautiful lunch and give another round of applause for the Hubb Community Kitchen. Thank you.
