Grenfell Tower: 'Firefighter rescued me as I choked in smoke on stairwell'

A man has told how he was pulled to safety by a firefighter after a phone call from a Grenfell Tower neighbour telling him to “get out”.

Eddie Daffarn, 55, who has lived on the 16th floor of the block for more than 20 years, said: “My neighbour’s fire alarm went off and I heard people shouting ‘fire, fire’ on the landing.

“I opened my front door and lots of smoke came in so I shut it. About two seconds later a neighbour from downstairs phoned me and said, ‘You’ve got to get out of the building’. So I went into the bathroom and wrapped a wet towel around my face and ran out of the front door.”

He said he became disorientated in the choking smoke as he tried to find his way out.

“I ran out to find where the exit was and eventually a fireman was lying on the ground and touched my leg and he was able to help me into the fire escape.

“If I had been in that stairwell for any longer I don’t think I would have found the escape exit. You couldn’t see a thing. I was choking badly, it was a moment of life and death for me. I didn’t have that much time to think, it was only when I got into the doorway I realised how serious it was.

“I’m very grateful that the London Fire Brigade were there to help me. I couldn’t see anything. I was choking. I think my neighbour who called me saved my life.”

A disabled Syrian man fled from his fifth-floor flat with his wife and three daughters aged 26, 22 and 16. He said: “Everyone was running down the stairs screaming, it was like living in a horror film.

“We were all panicking, my kid was crying. We didn’t grab anything, we just wanted to be safe.”