Naman Shrestha
In the documentary film, ‘Grenfell: Uncovered,’ we get a detailed account of the fire that engulfed the Grenfell Tower, a residential tower block in London, England, on June 14, 2017. The tragic night took the lives of 72 residents of the building, one of whom was a 12-year-old girl named Jessica Urbano Ramirez. The Netflix documentary also delves deep into the critical decisions taken by several officials and companies that could have prevented the disaster altogether. The unfortunate death of Jessica, along with many others, rocked the community to its core, especially her family.
Jessica Urbano Ramirez Had a Bright Future Ahead of Her
Adriana Ramirez was only 17 years old when she moved from Colombia to London, England, where she met the love of her life and her husband, Ramiro Urbano. The couple gave birth to their first daughter, Melanie Urbano Ramirez, around 1997, followed by their second daughter, Jessica Urbano Ramirez. Born on July 4, 2004, Jessica brought more joy and love into the lives of her parents and her older sister. Before moving into Flat 176 of the Grenfell Tower in the early 2010s, the Ramirez family used to live in Haggerston, where they were housed by RBKC.
Jessica and her family were council tenants at Grenfell Tower and paid their rent to the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO). Due to her bubbly and loving personality, Jessica found it easy to make new friends. Also known as the family’s “little angel,” she could light up even the dullest of rooms with her mere presence. In her free time, she used to indulge in different activities, including baking, cooking, dressing up, shopping, and swimming. The 12-year-old girl had a lot to look forward to, including a slumber party for her 13th birthday. Unfortunately, fate had other plans.
Jessica Was the Only Ramirez Trapped Inside the Burning Tower
On the night of June 14, 2017, she was home alone in her house on the 20th floor of the Grenfell Tower when a fire broke out on the fourth floor, which only got worse and rapidly spread to higher floors. Trapped in the building, she joined a group of ten other residents on the 23rd to escape the flames and buy some more time. Meanwhile, a firefighter named David Badillo was asked by Melanie to rescue Jessica from their apartment on the 20th floor. Around 1:48 am, a team of firefighters, including David, made it to the Ramirez apartment, where they could not find any trace of Jessica. Elsewhere, she was on a call with a 999 operator, whom she informed about her location and status. During the phone call, Jessica begged the operator to hurry up as she was scared for her life, along with others trapped with her.
She also claimed that there was smoke in the flat and she had trouble breathing. The 12-year-old girl also told the operator that due to the large amount of smoke in the corridors, they could not leave the apartment. Eventually, Jessica succumbed to the deadly smoke around her. Her remains were found in flat 201 on the 23rd floor of the Grenfell Tower, with the preliminary cause of death being “consistent with the effects of fire.” Following her demise, the Ramirez family was left devastated and determined to get justice for her. They released a statement through the Metropolitan Police, saying, “We have received probably the hardest news any parents will ever have had to bear, over the past weeks we have been in a state of confusion and limbo. Now that she has been formally identified we feel totally crushed.”
“Nothing will ever bring our little girl back, and we are angry that this should ever have happened to our little angel. We will not rest until we get justice for her and for the many other lives lost as a result of this crime. We will only feel justice has been served when the highest possible charges are applied to culpable individuals. We entrust this task to the authorities in the hope that we will not be let down,” the family added. Claiming that Jessica would leave a lasting legacy in the hearts of many, they said, “Her light will shine bright and will light our individual paths as we start to move forward into coming to terms with our loss and heartbreak.”
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