Name: Mr Zaki AhmedNumber of Statement: 1No of exhibits: 0Date: 9 May 2018

IN THE MATTER OF THE GRENFELL TOWER INQUIRY

WITNESS STATEMENT OF MRZAKI AHMED

Introduction

1. My name is Zaki Ahmed and I am the son of the leaseholders of flat 156 Grenfell

Tower, London W11 1TQ, Shahid and Sayeda Ahmed. I make this statement

intending it to be placed before the Inquiry. I make this statement from my own

knowledge, except where the context indicates otherwise.

2. I am a working within . I lived in Grenfell

Tower with my parents until I was.. I went to a local primary school. When I was

11 I won a scholarship to After that, between 2010

and 2013 I was a student at where I studied economics.

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3. As I have said, until April 2015 I lived in Flat 156 on the eighteenth floor of Grenfell

Tower with my mother and father.

4. In 2015 we decided to move out of Grenfell Tower partly because we wanted to rent a

bigger house in preparation for getting married. My father and mother rented out Flat

156 for a year and we all lived in a rented house. My wife and I then bought our

current property and have lived there since April 2016. My father and mother moved

back to Grenfell Tower in April 2016.

Grenfell Tower Leaseholders Association

5. Because this witness statement is only intended to deal with the issues in Phase 1

below I only give an introduction to the work I have done over the years. I intend to

prepare a further statement for Phase 2. My father spent many years campaigning as

the founder and chair of Grenfell Tower Leaseholders Association (GTLA) for better

and safer conditions at Grenfell Tower. I often helped my father with his work for

GTLA. For example, I read email and correspondence and helped him draft

responses.

The night of the fire

6. On the Tuesday evening before the fire it was a normal night for me. I usually turn

off my mobile phone completely when I go to bed. However, on the night of 14 June

I accidentally left my phone on vibrate mode. I was woken up with the sound of the

phone vibrating. When I checked it I saw that there were two missed calls from my

grandparents saying that there was a fire in Grenfell Tower. When I tried to call back

the phone was engaged. When I finally reached them they told me there was a fire in

Grenfell Tower. About 5-10 minutes later I got a call from an uncle who lives in

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Wembley. He said he was going to go to Grenfell Tower to check whether my

parents were alright. He said he had been listening to what was happening on the

radio. my relatives had been staying up late. It was then

that I realised that the situation was serious. A short while later my mother called me

in a very upset state and said that the whole building was on fire. I was so shocked I

vomited. I woke my wife up and said I had to go Grenfell Tower. My wife and I

drove to Grenfell Tower together.

7. I drove across London to Grenfell Tower. When I reached the "Car Giant" warehouse

quite near Grenfell Tower I saw the fire in the Tower for the first time with my own

eyes. The flames were vivid against the black sky. As I got closer I could see that

debris was raining down. It was like the apocalypse. I tried to park but the police

were blocking the roads. I did then manage to park and went on a mad hunt for my

parents. I think it was about 2am by that time. As I got closer to the tower I saw

people screaming. I asked people if they had seen my parents. People would say they

had seen them but I couldn't initially find them. I could only see a handful of

recognisable faces scattered across a one mile radius of the Tower as the police had

started to block out passages. Eventually I received a phone call from my uncle that

they were at my Aunt's flat which is nearby. I ran there and found my parents and we

all broke down in tears at disbelief at what had happened. It was after 3am at that

time.

8. After a short while, still in a state of panic and shock, we all decided to go back to

Grenfell Tower to look for friends and neighbours. When we arrived we came across

a friend I knew from childhood called Farhad Neda. He had carried his mother down

from the 23rd floor. I was very emotional when Farhad said he was going to try to

find his father and that his father was lost. My parents, wife and I visited each

• outreach centre in a desperate attempt to look for him. We did not succeed and I

remember the strong, dark feeling that the worst had happened.

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9. We then stood and watched from Latimer Road station as our home was burning to

ashes. All I could notice was how debris and large objects were falling from the

building. People around us were videoing the scenes, and by this time there were a

large number of reporters. I felt a strong sense of anger towards those people, and

those helicopters that were flying around the building. They were not here to help, but

to make tomorrow's front page.

10. At about 9am, we decided that we needed to leave the area and I asked my parents

whether they wanted to come to my house. It dawned on me that they were now

homeless and I would have to play the role of parent. They requested to stay in West

London, so I called my Uncle who lives in west London, and asked whether we could

stay at theirs for a short while. We then left the area, with the Tower still burning

despite being over 8 hours since the fire started. It was clear that the equipment used

by the Fire Brigade was not suitable to put out the fire.

11. I confirm that I am willing for this witness statement to form part of the evidence

before the Inquiry and to be published on the Inquiry's website.

I believe that the facts in the witness statement are true.

Signed:..

Mr Zaki Ahmed.

0 q . (Dated- 0

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Name: Mr Zaki AhmedNumber of Statement: 1No of exhibits: 0Date: 9 May 2018

IN THE MATTER OFTHE GRENFELL TOWER INQUIRY

WITNESS STATEMENT OF MR ZAKIAHMED

ANTHONY GOLD169 Walworth RoadLondonSE17 1RWDX number: 34905 Walworth

Tel:Fax:Ref: 32/A3281.1

Solicitors for Mr Zaki Ahmed

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