Told in a stark, matter-of-fact voice, the door to a nightmare remains barely ajar. Marta and Ramón, along with their two children aged eight days and two years, were trapped in their bathroom as flames roared through the building. They spoke to a friend they had been in contact with since the blaze began on the eighth floor of the annex tower, and then the family cut the line. The couple had been preparing to descend to the lobby where this friend waited to help their children to safety, but the firefighters themselves instructed them to return inside to stay put. The friend recalls their conversation with painful clarity: they were told to remain calm, to seal the doors with wet cloths, and to stay inside because there was no immediate danger. She repeatedly repeats that she urged the first responders to go up and rescue them, but they couldn’t be reached in time.
