Video, broadcast by Sky News, shows video captured by desperate residents on the 23rd floor. It is not known if they survived. Video/Sky News
Three generations of one family are feared to have died in the devastating fire at a west London tower that has claimed at least 12 lives.
Teaching assistant Nadia Choucair, her husband, their three daughters and the children's grandmother are among the missing after the blaze that raged through Grenfell Tower in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
One of the girls called her best friend as flames and smoke choked the apartment building, the Mirror reports, telling her: "We're not going to make it. I love you."
Sisters Mirna, Fatima and Zainnb are among the missing after the London fire. Photo / Supplied
Resident Hulya, 42, said: "It's just awful, absolutely devastating. One of the daughters rang her friend saying they weren't going to make it and that she loved her. She's about 13.
Nobody has been able to contact any of them since."
A family friend told the BBC they hadn't heard from their family members including three sisters - Mirna, Fatima and Zainnb.
Family and friends of up to 600 people that may have been trapped inside the tower block have been searching desperately for their loved ones after their homes turned into a blazing inferno.
Fire ripped through the 24-storey block early Wednesday morning killing at least 12 and injuring at least 74. Friends and family of those who lived there have flooded makeshift evacuation centres and social media with appeals for their loved ones.
Family of Jessica Urbano have been desperately pleading for information about the 12-year-old on social media. Aunt Sandra Ruiz said she phoned her mum at 1.29am and at 1.39am before the call cut out with no explanation.
Jessica Urbano, 12, is among those missing. Photo / Supplied
"She was with a group of people in the fire escape, in the fire stairs, they live on the 20th floor and my sister-in-law was just coming back from work, as was my older niece," she said.
"Jessica called her to say this has happened and she was only a few minutes away." Sandra said: "My brother and my sister-in-law have been trying to speak to the authorities but obviously they are concerned with the immediate problem of getting people out.
"They are not giving much information."
Makeup artist Ana Ospina also shared her picture online, saying she had searched hospitals and was unable to find her.
Friend Asia Phillips, 13, was outside the building looking for her, along with another classmate Georgina Smith, 12 and her sister, Kristina, 7.
"Their phones are dead," she said.
Ahmed Chellah told news.com.au his brother-in-law and his wife were inside with their three children when the fire broke out.
"The last time I spoke with them was at 1.45, she seemed calm," he said about his relative.
"Her husband was talking with emergency services. She told me they asked her to put towels around the doors. She sounded calm."
Emma Evans shared a post looking for Mariem Elgwahry, a 19th floor resident who was reportedly last seen at around 2.30am with her mother Eslah, 64. Khadija Saye, 24, and her mother Mary, who lived on the 20th floor, are also missing.
Others pleaded for information on the el-Wahabi family of five: Fouzia and Aziz, their teenage daughter Nurhuda, and sons Yasin and Mehdi.
Mr el-Wahabi's sister Hana told the Mirror: "They live on the 21st floor. I rang him and the fire had not reached the top of the block at that point. He said he had been told to stay inside, stay in one room together and put towels under the door.
"I told him to leave. He said he was going to come. Then I called him and he said there was too much smoke.
"The last time I saw him they were waving out the window."
The newspaper also spoke to Genet Shawo as she searched for five-year-old son Isaac Paulos after they became separated. The mother of two said: "We were on the 18th floor.
The smoke was so thick, we couldn't see. A neighbour took Isaac's hand and I had my other son Lucas; he's three.
"We went down stairs, but when we got outside Isaac wasn't there. I saw the neighbour and said, 'Where's my son?' He said he'd left him."
Nadia Choucair is missing, along with her husband, three daughters and mother-in-law. Picture: Supplied
STILL MISSING
Saber Neda, who lived in a top-floor flat, stayed behind after urging wife Shakila, 45, and son Farhad, 24, to flee. His nephew Rashad Naqshbandi, 24, said Mr Neda stopped answering his phone at around 6am yesterday, while his wife and son are in a coma because of the smoke.
"I've already lost a friend, Yasin, and his whole family," said Mr Naqshbandi. "I know they're dead because they barricaded themselves in."
Ali Yawar Jafari, 82, had been in a lift with his wife and daughter, but he reportedly got out on the 10th floor saying there was too much smoke and he could not breathe. Another pensioner, 75-year-old Abdel Salam, rang his sons and told them: "I can't breathe." He is feared to be among the dead.
Nura Jamal, who lived on the 23rd floor, is feared to have died with her sons, aged six and 11. She rang a friend at 2am and said: "Forgive me, the fire is here, I'm dying."
Zainab Dean, who lived on the 14th floor with her two-year-old son Jeremiah, is also missing. Her brother Francis Dean, 47, said he had last spoken to her on the phone in he early hours and told her to get out. "She said she had been told to stay inside her flat," he said.
A firefighter had borrowed his phone to speak to her, added Mr Dean. "He told her to keep calm and that they were coming to get her. He kept saying that to her again and again. But then he handed me the phone and said, 'Tell her you love her'."
Steven Pile, who lived on the 12th floor, was also missing. Friend Elvis Burke, 50, said he had rescued his niece but stayed to save his dogs and had not been heard from since.
Italian couple Gloria Trevisan and Marco Gottardi, both 27, were also missing. The pair, from Venice, had been in London for three months and Gloria was due to return to Italy today. They lived on the 23rd floor. Marco's father Giannino said he called his son when he heard about the fire. He said: "He played down the incident, I think to reassure us.
"At the last contact, he informed us that their apartment was flooded by smoke and that the situation was an emergency. Then nothing. We only hope for a miracle."
Others who had not been heard from last night included Sheila Smith, 84, Raymond Bernard, 65, Mo Tucco and Hesham El-Raaman, 57.
Mother-of-two Rania Ibrahim posted two harrowing videos on social media while trapped on the 23rd floor of the burning building. The posts were the last anyone has heard from her im since the block went up in flames.
London Fire Commissioner Dany Cotton said she did not want to speculate about the cause of the blaze that rapidly engulfed the block.
Many of those at the scene questioned the fact it had been re-cladded around 18 months ago with witness Maureen O'Neill saying the exterior coating caught fire in patches "like a scrabble board". Others said official policy was to stay inside homes during a fire with reports some residents could have made it out earlier had they been aware of the scale of the danger.
Resident David Collins said he had lived in the property for two and a half years and had been complaining about safety for a long time. "They lost power last year with half of the emergency stairwell not lit," he said.
Rydon construction company, who refurbished the block said its work "met all required building control, fire regulation, and health and safety standards."
The company said it would not be commenting further "given the ongoing nature of the incident and the tragic events overnight".
