‘He’ll always be in our hearts’: Grenfell Tower inquiry opens with moving tribute to baby

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Marcio Gomes broke down in tears as he remembered holding his baby son, Logan, praying that he would breathe.

“I was willing, praying for any kind of miracle that he would just open his eyes, move, make a sound,” Mr. Gomes said as his wife, Andreia Gomes, sat crying next to him and photographs of Logan appeared on a giant screen. “That never happened.”

The couple and their two young daughters were among hundreds of people who fled the Grenfell Tower social-housing complex as it went up in flames in the middle of the night on June 14, 2017, killing 72 people. The family lived on the 21st floor of the 24-storey building and Ms. Gomes was seven months pregnant at the time of the fire. After managing to make it outside, Ms. Gomes was taken to hospital where she was put into a medically induced coma. She later lost the baby who was stillborn.

On Monday, Mr. Gomes kicked off a public inquiry into the fire with a moving tribute to his son, telling a packed audience in a hotel conference centre that Logan “might not be here physically but he’ll always be in our hearts forever.” It was the first of a series of commemorations to victims that will take place over the next two weeks before the inquiry begins hearing formal evidence. The inquiry is expected to last for several months and more than 500 people and organizations have been designated as “core participants.”

The Grenfell Tower fire has come to symbolize Britain’s struggles over race, class and inequality and the inquiry has faced a steady stream of criticism for lacking diversity and ignoring the needs of those affected. The government of Prime Minister Theresa May has also come under attack for its slow response to the tragedy and its failure to fully address fire-safety concerns at other high-rise social-housing complexes. Last week, Ms. May committed £400-million to help local councils replace flammable cladding on other high-rise tower blocks but critics said that wasn’t nearly enough and they lashed out at a government-appointed committee for failing to recommend a ban on the material.

The building was owned by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, which has also come under mounting criticism. The west London borough is one of the richest in the U.K. and is home to Kensington Palace as well as some of the most expensive real estate in the world. Grenfell stood apart with its diverse population that included refugees from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. Residents have said the council ignored their concerns about inadequate fire doors, a lack of sprinklers and blocked fire escapes. They’ve also alleged the council cut corners on a recent renovation and opted for cheaper cladding that was more flammable and caused the fire to spread. While the council has now promised to rehouse all the 210 households affected by the fire, so far only 74 have been moved into permanent homes.

On Monday, some of the residents’ anger seeped out as family members began remembering their lost relatives. Sam Daniels stood alone at the front of the room and talked for less than a minute, saying simply that his father, Joseph Daniels, “never stood a chance of getting out.” The fire, he added, “should never have happened.”

Others were too traumatized to speak, preferring to sit next to their lawyers who read statements on their behalf. The sister of Mary Mendy, who lived in Flat 173 and was from Gambia, doubled over in anguish as her words were read out by a lawyer. Ms. Mendy’s 24-year-old daughter, Khadija Saye, also died in the fire and the family’s lawyer recounted her budding artistic career, which included her first exhibit in Venice a month before the fire.

Anne-Marie Murphy took the microphone to talk about her brother, Denis Murphy, who had moved into Grenfell in 1997 in order to be closer to their mother. “There’s a gaping hole in our hearts that can never be filled and it hurts, it really hurts,” she told the hearing as photographs of Mr. Murphy appeared on the screen.

One of the most poignant moments came at the end of a presentation by the family of Mohamed Neda who lived in Grenfell with his wife and son. They had come to the U.K. as refugees from Afghanistan and Mr. Neda worked at a variety of jobs before managing to start his own chauffeur company. On the night of the fire, Mr. Neda’s wife and son escaped the building and spent days in hospital recovering. But relatives didn’t know what had happened to Mr. Neda and they began frantically searching mosques, community centres and hospitals, hoping he was alive. They only learned his fate when police asked them for DNA samples. As the commemoration ended, the family played a recording of Mr. Neda’s last telephone message. “Goodbye. We are now leaving this world. Goodbye. I hope I haven’t disappointed you. Goodbye to all.”