Kriti Mehrotra
It was in the early hours of June 14, 2017, when the entire world turned upside down for the residents of Grenfell Tower in Kensington in London, England, as it became engulfed in flames. This has even been evidenced in Netflix’s ‘Grenfell: Uncovered,’ which comprises not only archival documents and footage but also exclusive footage to underscore what transpired. Therefore, of course, there’s a mention of Behailu Kebede, resident of apartment 16 on the fourth floor, which is where the fire first started, and the initial media scapegoat, wrongly accused of wrongdoing.
Behailu Kebede Had Been Residing at Grenfell For 25 Years
Born on April 2, 1973, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, as one of four siblings and the oldest boy in a family of Orthodox Christians, Behailu Kebede grew up in a comfortable, loving household. His father was a lawyer, whereas his mother was a civil servant, so life for the family had always been content, but he admittedly had other dreams for himself. In fact, by the time he had earned his high school diploma, he knew he wanted to settle down in the United Kingdom, where he could not only pursue his dreams of becoming a pilot but also thrive in the industry.
Therefore, in 1990, at the age of 17, Behailu packed his bags, said goodbye to his incredibly supportive family, and relocated to London, with his two younger brothers following shortly after. The trio initially resided in a hostel, with him taking up several part-time jobs to make ends meet, which was enough for him to qualify to apply for accommodation. It was around 1992 when the Kensington and Chelsea Council offered him apartment 16 at Grenfell Tower, and he, as well as both his brothers, soon moved in, happy to finally have a permanent home in the city.
As the years passed, Behailu earned his driver’s license, evolved into a full-time cab driver, furnished his entire apartment, and basically built a beautiful home for himself. He also became a legal British Citizen, with his brothers reportedly also following suit once they completed their higher education and moved out into their own places. However, in 2015, he started renting out a room to an Ethiopian woman named Elsa Afeworki who needed a place to stay, and then, in early 2017, he gave the other one to Almaz Kinfu, only to sleep on a mattress in the living room himself. His wardrobe was a storage cupboard near the front door. He was actually happy with this arrangement since it helped him financially, mostly because he was trying to save up so as to finally buy his apartment from the Council under their Right to Buy scheme. That’s why he’d also started working for Uber in the early summer of 2017.
Behailu Kebede Was Asleep When the Fire Started
According to Behailu’s own accounts, he drove for Uber from 6 pm to 11:15 pm on the evening of June 13, 2017, before parking his vehicle and arriving home shortly after 11:30 or 11:45 pm. He didn’t see either of his roommates, but he just assumed they had already gone to sleep. Thus, he prepared for bed himself before falling alseep well after 12 am on June 14. He vividly remembers that the sliding door between the living room and the kitchen was closed as it gave him a sense of privacy, especially as he knew they normally kept the kitchen window open in the summers for ventilation.
It was “an unusual beeping sound” that awoke Behailu from his slumber shortly before 1 am, just for him to eventually realize it was from the smoke alarm in the kitchen. He subsequently got up to check, just to find thick, light smoke rising up from behind his fridge – he didn’t see any flames, but he understood that there was a fire. That’s when he rushed out, grabbed one of his 2 cell phones, and dialled 999 to report the situation, all the while banging on his roommates’ doors to wake them up. He was shouting, “Fire! Fire! Fire!” to raise the alarms and ensure they evacuated.
Then, Behailu went as far as to run out of his apartment and bang on the doors of all five of his immediate neighbors to ensure their safety too, following which he went back to his place. He put on pants over his boxers as well as a t-shirt, switched off the main electricity switch in the hallway, and rushed out of the tower – he was barefoot and had forgotten his keys, his wallet, and his other phone. So, by the time he actually saw the flames from outside the building and realized he should have warned others too, he had no way of going back inside, but thankfully, firefighters soon arrived.
The Aftermath of the Fire Has Been Hard on Behailu Kebede
Once Behailu was out of Grenfell Tower, he actually called a friend and got a ride to his girlfriend’s home in Shepherd’s Bush, which she shared with their two young children. There, he got dressed and explained the situation to her before deciding to go back because it had been his home as well as his community for the past 25 years, so he felt weird not being there. Little did he know that by the time he’d return, the entire building would be engulfed in flames – a vision he still can’t get out of his head, especially as he later learned that 72 individuals lost their lives from the incident.
Behailu was interviewed by the police twice within 12 hours of the fire, even though he’d had no sleep, and no interpreter was provided, but he still did his best to explain what had transpired. He was soon cleared of any wrongdoing because he’d not only taken all the necessary steps but also gone above and beyond to help his neighbors, yet he still felt guilty over not warning the other floors. However, local media outlets soon released aggressive pieces on the fire, alluding to him as the reason it expanded the way it did, only to then allegedly harass him for his full story – he became the scapegoat.
What’s worse is that some journalists allegedly managed to get not only Behailu’s number but also the home address of his partner and family, offering them money to facilitate a meeting. The reportedly even went as far as to contact his friends on social media to get an insight, and it was to such an extent that the police offered to put him into witness protection. The initial public backlash didn’t help either, but thankfully, the fact that he was officially cleared and openly supported by all his fellow survivors made things better – they didn’t hold him responsible even though he felt guilty.
It was not long after that Behailu was diagnosed with insomnia and depression, finding himself in a really dark place owing to everything that had transpired as well as the “what-ifs.” He had no home, his partner and kids had to move out of their home due to the alleged harassment, and their combined dreams of soon settling down together at Grenfell Tower were shattered. However, since then, it appears as if they have managed to rebuild their lives together, first by finding their combined pace while residing at different hotels and now by putting all their learning into their home in another part of London. We should also mention that while the 52-year-old likely still struggles with survivor’s guilt, he seems to be doing his best to move forward for the sake of his family, his partner, as well as his kids, all the while keeping the memories of those lost alive in his heart.
Read More: Omar Alhajali: Where is the Grenfell Fire Survivor Now?
