A MOTHER and daughter died holding each other tight to squeeze the nightmare of the fire away, the Grenfell Tower inquiry heard.
Mohamednur Tuccu, 44, his wife Amal Ahmedin, 35, and their three-year-old daughter Amaya Tuccu-Ahmedin, all died in the June 14 blaze last year.
Mother and daughter were found next to each other in the 23rd-floor lobby of Grenfell Tower in west London, while the body of Mr Tuccu was recovered from close to the nearby leisure centre.
Amna Mahmud Idris, 27, was visiting her cousin Ms Ahmedin at the time of the fire and also died.
Ms Ahmedin's sister, Winter, broke down as she remembered how excited she was to see her three-year-old niece grow up into an "amazing" person.
She told the public inquiry how her sister, who had shared the same bedroom, would hold her tightly as a child when she had bad dreams to squeeze the nightmares away.
She said: "I would hold her (Amaya) tight just like Amal did to me when I was a kid.
"And that's where they were when they were burned alive, holding each other tight trying to squeeze the nightmare away.
"To this day and the rest of my life I will never accept that they are gone and that I will never be able to see them again and I will never be able to feel their warmth, their kind and loving hearts.
"I will continue planning Amaya's life - what she would be doing today, tomorrow, her 10th birthday, her 18th, her 21st and the rest of her life.
"We all miss them so much."
Winter, whose last name was not given, said "cheeky" Amaya was the love of her mother's life and her sister Ms Ahmedin was an incredible mother.
"Motherhood brought out a layer of her personality that we were all in awe of," she said, adding that her capacity to love was "unmatchable".
She was joined by around a dozen family members on the stage as she made her tribute.
Ibrahim Toukou, Mr Tuccu's brother, remembered how his sibling would always tell him not to worry when he confided his problems.
Mr Tuccu was a respected employee who always went the extra mile at work, his employers told Mr Toukou.
Speaking in a pre-recorded video, he told of his devastation that he and his brother were unable to ever meet together with their families.
His daughter, now seven, was desperate to meet Amaya and would kiss photographs of her cousin whenever she saw her picture.
He stayed in contact with his brother over Facebook, he said.
He said: "I used to dream of us being reunited, I dreamed of us being together as brothers with our families and children.
"I was always praying to see him at least once after so many years and to meet his family and to have all our children together."
He added: "When I heard the news of the fire I was just praying they would be alive so we could have a chance to meet at least once as a family."
He said he had not told his children of their relatives' deaths, instead telling them the trio had gone on a trip.
