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Bristol Post
Bristol Post
National
Tristan Cork

Man killed in Easton tower block fire named as father of seven

The man who died in the fire at a Bristol tower block over the weekend has been named as Abdul Jabar Oryakhel, who had arrived in Bristol after leaving Afghanistan only a few months ago.

The 30-year-old died when he fell from a 16th floor window trying to escape a fire in the flat where he was living in Easton in the early hours of Sunday morning (September 25).

The Times reported that Mr Oryakhel had travelled across the Channel in a boat in February after leaving Afghanistan after the Taliban took over the country following the withdrawal of US and UK forces.

Read more: Easton flat fire: People 'traumatised' and 'unable to sleep'

He was seeking asylum status and had been staying with his cousin in a flat on the 16th floor of Twinnell House in Easton, when tragedy struck at around 2am on Sunday morning.

Investigations have found that the fire started when an electric bike charger caught alight, and three other people in the flat at the time managed to escape the fire - two by clambering out of a window and clinging on to the outside of the building before they were pulled in by firefighters.

But Mr Oryakhel, who The Times said was a shepherd from a village in the Laghman province in eastern Afghanistan, was trapped in his bedroom by the fire and clambered out of the window as the flames spread, but tragically fell to his death. He had left his wife and seven children in Afghanistan and hoped to bring them to this country when he was granted asylum.

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