Grenfell Tower: 12-year-old girl with 'voice of an angel' among newly-identified victims

Hashim Kedir and his daughter Firdaws are the latest people to be formally named as having died

Grenfell Tower victim Firdaws Hashim, 12, has been formally identified

Two more victims of the Grenfell Tower fire have been formally identified as an inquest into their deaths is opened at Westminster Coroners’ Court.

Hashim Kedir, 44, and his 12-year-old daughter Firdaws Hashim were two of at least 80 victims of the devastating fire which broke out at the west London tower block in June.

Mr Kedir and Firdaws were both identified using DNA. An inquest court was told on Friday that they were found on the 22nd floor and the causes of both deaths were “consistent with the effects of fire”.

Mr Kedir's sisters and nieces said in a statement via the Metropolitan Police that he was “everybody's favourite in the family”.

They said: “You used to make friends so easily; age, gender, religion, ethnicity or social status didn't matter. One can tell the kind of person you were from the diversity of people that are crying over your death.”

His daughter, Firdaws, was described as “the most intelligent, wise and eloquent girl” with “the voice of an angel”.

“It still blows my mind how talented you were. I remember the first time I heard you sing,” said a cousin, “You were so confident and articulate, it sounded as if you were reading from a book.”

Another young victim named on Friday was an 11-year-old girl, who died with her family and was identified by her dental records.

The court was told that Fatima Choucair was found on the 22nd floor of the tower block.

Previous hearings have been told that her parents Bassem Choucair, 40, and Nadia Choucair, 33, as well as her 13-year-old sister Mierna and 60-year-old grandmother Sirria, were also recovered from the 22nd floor.

Grenfell Tower victim Hashim Kedir, 44, has been formally identified

The court was told that the little girl's death was “consistent with the effects of fire”.

Meanwhile, nearly two months on from the fire, the majority of the survivors remain in temporary accommodation.

Just 48 of the 175 accommodation offers have been accepted, according to the Grenfell Response Team (GRT), despite Theresa May's pledge to rehouse all survivors within three weeks of the fire.

Justice4Grenfell (J4G) said the “stark” figures were “testament to the continuing misery” of the survivors.