ITV Good Morning Britain's Susanna Reid tearful as uncle of Grenfell victim, 12, opens up on tragedy

14.06.2022 - 13:05 / manchestereveningnews.co.uk

Susanna Reid became visibly emotional as she spoke to the uncle of a Grenfell victim on Good Morning Britain. Manny Ruiz appeared on the programme to chat to the presenter and her co-host Richard Madeley as they marked the fifth anniversary of the tragedy.

He joined David Badillo in the ITV studio, who was the first firefighter onto the scene on that fateful night as Manny spoke about losing his 12-year-old niece Jessie in the horror tower block blaze which claimed the lives of 72 men, women and children in west London.

David and Manny were friends, and it wasn't until later it was discovered that Jessie who was one of the people David was tasked with trying to get out of the burning building on the night of June 14, 17.

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Jessie was expected to be on the 20th floor of the block but the young girl headed towards the top of the building to try and escape the flames and ended up being trapped inside.

"After setting up the bridgehead, I went downstairs to get my breathing apparatus," David said of arriving to Grenfell Tower. "As I was making my way to the fire engine I met - who I didn't know at the time - was Manny's niece, Jessie's older sister, who told me her little sister was in the building in the 20th floor.

"At this time I hadn't been outside so I didn't know how much the fire had escalated. Jessie's sister wanted to come with me so I said, 'Stay there, I'll go up, quickly get your sister.'"

As he detailed what he did next, the 'trouble' he realised he was in and his horror at seeing the block alight when he went outside to collect equipment, David added of Jessie: "Heartbreakingly she had gone up to escape