News / Twinnell House
Victim of Easton e-bike tower fire named as Abdul Jabar Oryakhel
A man who died after he fell from a tower block in Easton has been named as Abdul Jabar Oryakhel.
Oryakhel, 30, was one of three left clambering windows as they tried to escape the flames at Twinnell House on Sunday at about 2am.
While the two other men managed to escape, the father of seven fell and died at the scene.
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The Times have reported Oryakhel was an Afghan asylum seeker who fled his country after the Taliban retook control last year.
He was staying with his cousin on the 16th floor of the tower off Stapleton Road when a homemade electric bike caught fire.
They wrote that he was a shepherd with his wife and seven children from a village in the Laghman province in eastern Afghanistan. He hoped to bring them to the UK when he was granted asylum.
Eight other people were taken to hospital following the fire, with more treated at the scene by emergency services. – photo: Betty Woolerton
On the night of the blaze, several residents reported not hearing any alarms.
However, an investigation found all of the alarms inside the flats were working properly but there were no alarms in the communal areas – complying with building regulations.
A Bristol City Council spokesperson, which owns the building, said: “Fire doors and alarms both within the flat, and on the top floor, responded as expected given the circumstances.”
Main photo: Facebook
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- Twinnell House: Man dead and eight in hospital after fire in tower block
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