Drunk emerges as an unlikely hero in the Grenfell Tower horror fire after he randomly hit the fourth floor lift button
A drunk last night emerged as an unlikely hero in the Grenfell Tower atrocity - when he randomly hit the fourth floor lift button.
The swaying drinker got in the lift around 1am with 13th floor resident Miguel Alves, who was just getting home from work.
He lurched towards the elevator control panel and happened to hit '4'...the level on which the inferno began allegedly from an exploding fridge.
When the doors opened, smoke came billowing in leaving the pair choking for breath.
Quick-thinking Miguel carried on up to his level and woke wife Fatima, daughter Ines, 16, and son Tiago -ordering them to get out.
Miguel then dashed around the building banging on the doors of as many neighbours as possible.
The dad has told his incredible story of good fortune to friends who have hailed his unselfish actions.
One said: "If that lift had not opened at the fourth floor many more lives would have been lost.
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"He doesn't know whether the drunk was just 'joyriding' in the lift or was searching for his flat - but it was incredibly fortunate he hit that button. Miguel was a star...but he would not want anyone to say that.
"The last I heard was the children were staying with school pals while the parents were waiting to be rehoused."
Brave Ines grabbed her GCSE revision papers and after scrambling to safety swotted up outside the blazing block.
She then attended Sacred Heart Schooligan in Hammersmith, West London, that morning to sit her GCSE chemistry exam.
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What we know so far:
- A huge fire engulfed 24-storey Grenfell Tower in West London just before 1am on Wednesday night
- Thirty deaths have been confirmed but the death toll is feared to be more than 100 - with many people still missing
- The first victim has been named as Syrian refugee Mohammed Al Haj Ali, 23
- The Prime Minister has promised a full public inquiry into the disaster and police have launched a criminal investigation
- The blaze is thought to have been sparked by a faulty fridge
- Experts warned the blaze was spread by cladding panels which are fitted to countless buildings across Britain
- Residents were seen jumping from upper floors in scenes reminiscent of September 11
- Horrified witnesses told of babies being thrown from windows by desperate mothers
- It was revealed the block had only recently undergone a £10million refurb but still had no sprinkler system installed
- Designers insisted the refurbishment work complied with building regulations
- Residents raised safety concerns four years ago, but were ignored
- A former housing minister was blasted for postponing a government review into tower block safety
- Celebrities and ordinary Londoners have united to provide food, clothes, money and shelter for survivors