London fire: Muslims awake for sahur meal emerge as heroes

People affected by the fire that ripped through Grenfell Tower, a residential block sit on the pavement outside a temporary aid centre in west London on June 14. - AFP / Ben STANSALL

PETALING JAYA: Muslims who were awake for their Ramadan sahur (pre-dawn) meal ended up saving lives during the tragic blaze at the Grenfell Tower in London in the wee hours of Wednesday morning.

British media outlets reported that Muslim residents at the 24-storey apartment were among the first to notice the fire and "ran around knocking on people's doors".

The fire, which has so far claimed 12 lives, had broken out unexpectedly after midnight when many of the residents were asleep.

There was no prior warning as fire alarms did not go off.

However, the tower is home to a sizable number of Muslims, who had been awake to start their daily Ramadan fast and sprang to action when they smelt smoke.

Among them was Khalid Suleman Ahmad, 20, who told HuffPost UK that he was waiting for the start of sahur when he looked out of his window on the eighth floor and saw smoke coming from the level below.

"I woke my auntie up, then got clothes on and started knocking on neighbours' doors. Every house opened except two – I saw the other guy later on so only one family unaccounted for," he was quoted as saying.

"The whole corridor went black with thick smoke. I didn't think it was serious at all but we'd evacuated just to be safe," he said, adding that 20 minutes later their house was gone.

Reports also quoted eyewitnesses describing the Muslims on scene as "heroes" and "lifelines" as firefighters scrambled to put out the blaze and residents were evacuated.

Andre Barroso, 33, told The Independent that Muslims "played a big part in getting a lot of people out".

"Most of the people I could see were Muslim. They have also been providing food and clothes," he said.

A number of mosques and Islamic cultural centres also opened their doors to help those affected, while other faith groups also got involved to assist evacuees with their basic needs.

More than 50 people have so far been taken to hospitals for treatment on a range of injuries, with several said to be in critical condition.