IN THE MATTER OF Public Inquiry

Phase 2

WITNESS STATEMENT OF

YASIN YUSUF ADAM

I, Yasin Yusuf Adam, will say:

1. I make this statement from my own personal knowledge and from matters that I have been told about by others; where the information does not come from my own personal knowledge, I make this clear below.

2. I make this statement because I was a resident in flat 14, on the fourth floor in Grenfell Tower at the time of the fire and I witnessed the early stages ofthe fire spreading and the emergency response. I had direct involvement with a handful of the other Grenfell Tower residents prior to the fire, including those who sadly passed away.

3. I am a Core Participant of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.

4. I have previously provided two witness statements in Phase 1 of the Inquiry and have voluntarily provided a witness statement to the Police. I wish to make a statement on Phase 2 of the inquiry regarding the issues raised in Modules 3 & 4 of this inquiry.

5. In March 2009, I moved in with my sister Maryam Adam who was living at Flat 14, in Grenfell Tower part of the Lancaster West Housing Estate, inNorth , London,

6. When I moved in and before the refurbishment, the flat was good, and the building was adequate and felt safe, until the refurbishment.

Yasin Yusuf Adam 1 of 16

IWS00001301/1 IVVS00001301_0001 7. I found the community at Grenfell Tower was friendly and we always supported each other. We would meet on Lancaster green, the green next to Grenfell Tower, as a community to talk with each other. People walked their animals and their kids played football in the playground. Part of the reason for the community's success was because the tenants had easy access from all parts of the estate to the park, to become our meeting place.

8. In addition, we had access to and Latimer Road and other surrounding streets.

9. The Kensington & Chelsea Tenants Management Organisation (TMO) had meetings to discuss the refurbishment with tenants. I don't know how we found out, but it must have been from a communication between the tenants and the TMO.

10. The TMO promised that they would do many things to help the children of the estate, by building a nursery and playground.

11. Maryam at the time was volunteering her time to work with the kids from the estate. Tragically, some of these children later passed away in the , their loss has affected Maryam, greatly.

12. The meetings were not generally attended for many reasons. This led to many of the tenants' voices not being heard by the TMO. I along with others were concerned as we didn't want any more developments around the tower; as it would further reduce the free space around the building.

13. The developments prevented residents from easily accessing all the estate and beyond, this affected our community by breaking up the shared space and our meetings and forced other residents to go to other meeting places on and off the estate. Losing this space and other access to and from the estate, divided the community.

14. Not only did the lack of access to and from the estate impact community spirit. On the night of the fire the lack of space on the estate halted access to the tower by the emergency services in trying to reach the burning tower.

Yasin Yusuf Adam 2 of16

IWS00001301/2 IVVS00001301_0002 15 . The refurbishment put up many buildings around the tower. This included a sports centre

and an academy. These buildings blocked the fresh breeze we used to receive on the 2nd floor of the Tower, prior to the refurbishment.

16. Even though we could open the windows to get fresh air. The breeze that used to come into our flat was greatly reduced, by the new buildings surrounding the tower.

17. From my experience of living at the tower and from my knowledge since the fire. The estate before the refurbishment was of a better design, in that, it allowed people to come together. The building and the interior were made with better materials, that made it stronger and safer.

18. Post refurbishment, we initially thought we were lucky to live in such a place. We now know differently.

19. The refurbishment made the outside ofGrenfell Tower look fresh and new with its shiny outside. We thought the cladding and the interior of the tower was safe and met health safety standards.

20. From having started a NEBOSH (The National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health) health & safety course last year, sponsored by RBKC. I now know from the time of the fire that the health and safety at the tower after the refurbishment was not properly implemented.

21. The reasons for it not being properly implemented are set out below in my statement on fire safety issues at Grenfell Tower.

22. The original tower was all concrete exterior, by wrapping the building with flammable material and having a stay put policy and only one fire exit, could only increase casualties.

23. At the time of the refurbishment there was a smell of gas. Maryam reported this to the TMO a couple of times, who in turn sent an engineer who found no problems in the flat.

24. Maryam made a complaint to the TMO about her mobility in the shower and the shower head to her Keyworker, I don't remember her name.

Yasin Yusuf Adam 3 of 16

IWS00001301/3 IVVS00001301_0003 25. The Keyworker notified the TMO, who arranged for an assessment of Maryam's disability, which was undertaken. I am not aware that a Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan (PEEP) was formulated on her behalf by TMO.

Doors

26. In the flat we had four doors: one main door; bedroom door; bathroom door; sitting room/kitchen door.

27. In relation to the doors I believe they were normal and I didn't recall any issues with them. There were no drafts coming into the flat via the front door or the doors in the flat.

28. I did not remember seeing any seals around the front door or on any other doors in the flat.

29. Our front door was a solid black door that had a letterbox and a lock on it and a self­ closing mechanism.

30. I remember Maryam telling me about a leaflet she had received from the TMO, setting out the tenants' choices for the colour schemes for the communal fire doors by the stairwell and by the rubbish-chute in the tower.

31. The communal fire doors had self-closing mechanism and which all closed shut.

32. There is on my floor, six flats , including my own flat, aside from the communal door to the rubbish-chute, we all share one communal door on my landing which opened onto the stairwell, The fire door's location was in the common area were the lifts were, and to a door marked 'Fire Exit' to the stairwell, which was located opposite and slightly to the right, when viewed coming out from the lifts on my floor. The stairwell was our only means of escape in the event of a fire.

Windows

33. There are two windows in my flat. One in the bedroom, one in the living room and one in the kitchen.

Yasin Yusuf Adam 4 of16

IWS00001301/4 IWS00001301_0004 34. The kitchen window had an extractor fan above it.

35. All the windows in the flat are double glazed and of the tilting type.

36. All the windows in my flat had no gaps or drafts. When the new windows were installed under the refurbishment, they were installed from the outside.

37. During the refurbishment, workman came into the flat to place the finish surfaces around the newly installed windows.

38. The size of new windows were bigger, and you could see out more and it made the flat brighter. However, because of the new building close by, you could only get a limited amount of fresh air into the flat.

39. The new windows installed in the refurbishment were mounted on pivots, so that you could swing the window open. However, it would only leave an 8 to 10-inch gap.

40. Maryam told me she could not clean the outside of the flat windows. No one from the TMO gave me or Maryam any instructions on how to do this, they only showed us how to open and close the windows.

41. On the evening of the fire at Grenfell Tower I don't remember leaving any of the windows open, when I

42. There were two lift shafts in the building. I didn't have any issues, nor make a complaint regarding the lifts, as one of the lifts would most of the time, be in working order.

Gas

43. The flat was equipped with gas and electric. Before the refurbishment we had plenty of heat and hot water and the flat was always warm, even too hot for my liking. We had a separate bill for the gas, as it did not from part of the rent.

Y asin Yusuf A dam 5 of 16

IWS00001301/5 IVVS00001301_0005 44. The refurbishment installed a new combi-boiler in a small cupboard in the flat. The sub­ contractors also installed new pipework, throughout the flat. I was not there at the time, when the gas engineer attended, but I know from Maryam that it was inspected by the attending engineer.

45. The refurbishment did not allow for pipes in the flat to be exposed. I do not remember seeing any gaps between the pipes and the walls or seeing any sealant used to block the gaps.

Electricity

46. Before the refurbishment electricity and hot water were included in the rent. We rarely used electricity, mostly the gas for cooking. We only used electricity for appliances and for lighting in the flat. I do not remember having problems with the electricity in the flat.

4 7. The refurbishment brought new wiring and sockets to the flat, also at that time I had no problems of malfunctioning appliances or blackouts occurring in the flat.

Signage for Fire Emergencies

48 . I only remember the signage for fire emergencies on my route to my flat from entering the tower, as I took the stairwell only when both lifts were down, which occurred rarely.

49. My route would take me from the main entrance to my flat on the fourth floor (post refurbishment) via the lift. I do remember seeing a sign written in English, of A4 size and in no other languages, next to the lifts on my floor and on the ground floor.

50. I didn't pay great attention to the signs, I read a bit, but I didn't read a lot, because at the time I didn't think I needed to, as I remembered what Maryam had told me when the new fire door was installed, that being, to shut the flat front door (fire door) and wait to be rescued.

Yasin Yusuf Adam 6 of16

IWS00001301/6 IVVS00001301_0006 51 . From what I know now, the signs held no practical advice of how to escape the building in an emergency because of fire, only to stay put in your flat.

52. I did notice that there were numbers on the doors of the outside of the flats, including my flat, number 14 and that the lighting was always on in the landing and by the lifts.

Fire Safety

53. As far as my understanding ofthe tower's fire policy, I was not provided with any policy or any information on this at any time. I know the fire policy at my work, such as testing fire alarm as this was covered under health & safety training. I never received any instructions or information on this from the TMO, or from the landlord, The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, (RBKC).

54. To my knowledge I never heard a fire alarm being tested at Grenfell Tower.

55. To my knowledge I did not see a fire extinguisher of fire blankets in the tower.

56. To my knowledge I did not see smoke alarms or sprinklers on our floor or in the common areas of the tower.

57. Maryam told me on the night ofthe fire she did not hear a fire alarm. It was only through a neighbour; I think from Flat 16 had come to my flat. By chance her husband was awake from watching television, that the door was answered, and she was alerted, otherwise she wouldn't have made it out.

58. I never had to practice fire escaping using the stairwell, because the advice was to stay in your flat. There was no drill given by the TMO for the tenants to practice escaping the tower. I never was informed of or attended any events or talks or conferences to do with fire strategy at the tower and I never made any complaints about the fire safety strategy.

Y asin Yusuf A dam 7 of16

IWS00001301/7 IWS00001301_0007 Night of the Fire

1 59. On the night of the fire, in the early hours of 14 h June 2017, I was at the mosque for Ramadan. I received a call from my brother in law, Abdulwahab who told me that there was fire at Grenfell Tower.

60. I rushed back to the Grenfell estate.

61. By the Time I had arrived at the tower, from the Latimer Road side, I noticed a part of it 1 was on fire, with flames reaching 6 h or 7th floor on the North East corner. Later, it started spreading to the West side of the tower.

62 . I was concerned as I knew my sister was~d stranded on the fourth floor, with a mobility issue, together with her husband and Amna.

63 . The 4th floor corridor and in the stairwell had lighting. I think there was emergency lighting. But I am not sure, as I never needed it.

64. On the night of the fire Maryam told me about when she, her husband and Amna escaped the tower. They did so by entering the stairwell on their floor and walk down to the ground floor to exit the tower, as Maryam told me that the lifts were down at that time.

65. Luckily, her husband, had left his mobile in his jacket pocket, which he had grabbed on the way out of the tower. He called me when I was at the mosque.

66. Approximately, 20 minutes after I received the call from brother in law. I met up with Maryam, her husband and Amna near the sports ground. I remember Maryam was shaking at the time.

67. While I was near the tower, I can't remember smelling or inhaling smoke. I did not receiving any bums as I along with Maryam, her husband and Amna were moved back by the police to a safer area away from the tower

Yasin Yusuf Adam 8 of 16

IWS00001301/8 IWS00001301_0008 68. Maryam told me she had left her mobile and jacket behind in the flat, as she thought, as we all did at the time, that it was a small fire that it would be put out soon by the fire brigade and that we would all return to the flat in a short time.

69. But, in a short time, things started to get worse and worse, with burning cladding starting to fall off the building and crash on the ground below. Next, I saw the fire then spread across the tower very quickly.

70. I along with Amna and my brother in law took Maryam to seek refuge in a nearby car, which belonged to a friend of my brother in law's, so that she could get away from the fire, and for Maryam to rest.

71 . I returned to the crowd at the sports centre, after having made sure someone remained with Maryam. At the time I saw there were people still in the tower.

72. We saw people who were inside the building, opening the window shining light from their mobiles to attract attention. I found this distressing, as they looked helpless. I will never forget these images that I saw.

73 . The fire brigade couldn't get close to the building because they had no access to the tower from the road in, as the path would allow only for the width of one car to get through to the tower.

74. When the Fire Brigade did manage to get the hoses out to the building. They would not reach the height of the fire at the building, as the fire ladder was too short to reach the flames, which had climbed up the tower.

75. I saw police physically trying stop people from entering and re-entering the tower and saw a helicopter, I didn't know if it was police or the media.

76. The police directed us and the crowd of people further away from the tower, for our own safety, further away from the Leisure Centre, to protect the people who were looking at the burning building.

Y asin Yusuf Adam 9 ofl6

IWS00001301/9 IVVS00001301_0009 77. At no time was I concerned that the tower would collapse on me.

78. Maryam told me that one of the kids, a small cute boy, whom Maryam had grown close to, from helping out in the nursery at Grenfell, had died. Maryam was devastated at his loss. It affected me too.

79. Maryam also told me that her friend Nora Jamal who lived on the 22"d floor, that her whole family did not manage to escape the fire and died in the tower.

80. After the fire Maryam had tried to find out what had happened to Nura Jemal's family. The TMO never informed us that the family didn't make it out of the building. We didn't ask TMO as we had found about the family, from other survivors.

81 . I knew one man, Hasan Al Basha - from socialising

82. Hasan lived in a flat in Grenfell Tower, I am not sure which one, with his wife. I think her name was Rania lbrahim, and their two daughters. On the night of the fire his wife and daughters were trapped in their flat. They recorded a video on a phone as the tragic events unfolded.

83 . I saw the video on Facebook. I clearly remember it to this day, the mother telling their two daughters not to worry, as help would soon be with them. They pleaded to be forgiven, by making amends and asking for forgiveness from their friends and family. They all passed away together in the fire.

84. There was another victim shown in the same video it was an older woman, I can't remember her name, She had lived in another flat and had joined Rania and her family to her death.

The Aftermath of the Grenfell Tower Fire

85. We didn't know what to do next, only that we needed accommodation for the night. We asked people at the fire where we should go, we heard that people were going to The Rugby Portobello Club in . Y asin Yusuf A dam 10 of 16

IWS00001301/10 IVVS00001301_0010 86. When we arrived at the rugby club, Maryam was not feeling well.

87. Amna & I remained behind at the rugby club.

88. At the rugby club, I met with other survivors from the fire. We decided then, that we needed one voice, to represent us and that we would have to discuss among each other as to who would be our voice. We then exchanged contact details to facilitate that decision.

89. I believe this was the start of Grenfell United.

90. They kept us in contact by telephone and text and registered us for gym membership and provided some small gifts to me.

91. While at the rugby club were there, many organisations starting asking us for our details. Even though we were unsure who these organisations were or what they were doing there at the time. We gave our details and we were told they were to be entered onto a register of the survivors.

92. There was no one from the TMO or RBKC to be seen at the rugby club or to take on the task of helping the survivors.

93 . Amna, and I had been told at the rugby club to go to the Westway Sports Centre to find support and help, there were also charities there to provide help for the survivors.

94. We arrived at the Westway, I checked in and was given a cup of tea, toiletries and some clothes. People were very generous. I remember that a lady, a local resident - had given her holiday clothes away to survivors.

95. We stayed at the Westway, until we received a call from Maryam asking me to come to the hotel room at the Premiere Inn in Earls Court, organised by RBKC.

Y asin Yusuf Adam 11 of 16

IWS00001301/11 IVVS00001301_0011 96. I found out later from Maryam, when she was at the Hospital, they took her blood to make sure her and the baby were okay.

97. Maryam told me that from arriving at the hospital earlier that morning, she left a few of hours later, she then took a taxi with her husband to RBKC Town Hall.

98. At the Town Hall, she waited all day, until she was the last person there. She was told by security guard that the offices were closing up and to come back tomorrow.

99. Maryam again told me that she refused to go, and that she had nowhere to stay with her husband. The security guard kindly said he would go and find out what was going on. He returned with a white envelope, containing the address for the Premier Inn hotel in Earls Court.

100. The three of us, Maryam, her husband & I stayed in the one bedroom at the hotel. We ate at the hotel and all of us, lived on the food allowance of £300 per week given to Maryam, as she was the secure tenant.

101. At the hotel, we didn't have any information on missing people or getting help for our needs. When RBKC did come to us they didn't give us much information.

102. I did not know what the reason was for this, as my sister had informed the TMO back in 2009, that I was living with her looking after her. The TMO had knowledge that I live in the flat at Grenfell tower.

103. Unfortunately, I felt that we had missed other opportunities for help because of the lack of information provided or shared by RBKC, after the fire.

104. I was not provided with the £300 per week payment for sundries and supplies as I was off the RBKC's list ofBSRs.

Y asin Yusuf Adam 12 of 16

IWS00001301/12 IVVS00001301_0012 105. One week after the fire, Prime Minister Theresa May visited Grenfell promised us help to every survivor of the Grenfell fire. I never received any help or support from central government, and I had received no information from central government.

106. I am thankful for the help we received form charities, the mosque and the church were wonderful, without them we could have done nothing, and we would have had nothing if it was not for their help.

107. This included about £1000 in payments from charities. I also received some monetary donations from a man named Howard at the church and from another church on Latimer Road and the mosque, as well as clothing from other charities.

108. My experience with charities have changed my view on people who work there only do it for fun. I now know that they work hard and their efforts supported the Grenfell community.

109. While living in the hotel Maryam could not sleep because her bed was too uncomfortable for her. A charity came and raised the bed, to try to help her. She ended up sleeping on the floor for three months.

11 0. The hotel was very busy, and they were trying their best, but there was too much pressure on the staff with all of the survivors that were staying there.

111. There was no additional space to move residents according to their needs. Support should have come from the government and the RBKC to find BSRs, particularly the most vulnerable, alternative accommodation.

112. At the time, we wanted to make a complaint about the bed and the size of the room, but we didn't know how as we hadn't been given any information.

113. Maryam did have a key worker, we tried making a complaint through them, but RBKC kept changing the person who was her key worker.

114. We told RBKC that they had not done anything to help Maryam.

Yasin Yusuf Adam 13 of 16

IWS00001301/13 IVVS00001301_0013 115. Sometime in September 2017, when we finally got our complaint heard, Maryam, her husband & I, were then moved to a service flat and she was appointed a keyworker named Chi-Chi from RBKC.

116. I found out about the service flat through a lady in a charity, had arranged it for Maryam to move there, by contacting RBKC on Maryam's behalf.

117. I went to the Curve in the community centre on Bard Road, . -

118.

119. I had also lost all my possessions in the fire this included; watches, clothes, mobile phone, laptop, furniture and appliances, amongst other things

120.

challenges and confront my fears, for example by getting me to enrol on a health and safety course at work.

Rehousing

121. One year later, after the fire, RBKC said everyone was eligible for housing. I was placed on RBKC's re-housing list and offered permanent accommodation.

122. This came about from a friend of Maryam contact the Shelter charity for help, who in turn came to see me about getting re-housed and got me on the housing list.

Y asin Yusuf Adam 14 of 16

IWS00001301/14 IVVS00001301_0014 123 . I believe that the people responsible for looking after the residents at Grenfell did not take into consideration the residents' concerns when designing and implementing the refurbishment of the tower.

124. The refurbishment put the wellbeing of tower residents at risk, by negating their health and safety by implementing the refurbishment.

125. Not enough was done by the commanders of the fire brigade at the scene to accept their lack of understanding of this type of fire at the tower, and perhaps then they would have known to evacuated residents, in time.

126. This could have been remedied by commanders asking for expert help and having the means to do so, and to have an understanding of the innate scenario unfolding in front of them, they could make informed decisions, such as revoking the stay put policy sooner than later.

127. I now know the extent of the danger that my sister and other tenant's with mobility issues were placed in on the night of the fire. That being, there was no policy in place by the landlord to account for her or other vulnerable tenants', some of whom were living on higher floors in the tower than Maryam, on how they would they escape the tower in an emergency.

128. As far as I know, Maryam was never provided with, or consulted on a personal evacuation plan by the TMO.

129. From witnessing the night of the fire and knowing the danger that my sister and her family and friends were in, has made me more apprehensive and averse to risky scenarios. For example, my job as a security guard does not afford me the option to avoid risk, as the area I work, is off the Earls Court Road where there is a lot of crime around there. Even though I usually work with a colleague, sometimes, I have to close the shop on my own late at night. At work, I know I could put my life at risk from something as simple as someone trying to steal a bottle of wine from the shop. Right after the fire, my employer offered me two weeks paid leave and additional time off work if I needed it. I

Yasin Yusuf Adam 15 of 16

IWS00001301/15 IVVS00001301_0015 took off three weeks from work. I am now looking to work in another branch, still as a security guard, but in a shop in a much safer area.

Statement of Truth

I believe that the facts stated in this witness statement is true.

I confirm that I am willing for this statement to form part of the evidence before the Inquiry and to be published on the Inquiry's web site.

Signed: (fit m ) Print Full Name: 'j~ tv'l A~

Dated: "2..L+ I C) \ /2020

Y asin Yusuf Adam Signed: Dated: 16 of 16

IWS00001301/16 IVVS00001301_0016