A woman and son, whose flat was damaged in a fatal fire at a Bristol tower block, have locked themselves in a hotel room after being told by councillors they must return to their old flat. This is despite doctors recommending they be housed elsewhere following a PTSD diagnosis for both of them.
Selma Muuse - who had to escape the fire at Twinnell House with her young son back in September - says she cannot leave her hotel room at the Travelodge in the city centre because staff won’t let her back in - and they even refused to let friends bring her food and turned off the electricity and water supply to the room for a time on Saturday. Bristol City Council have offered her new accommodation but the only suitable home uushe has been offered will not be ready-until mid-December.
Ms Muuse has been told her flat in Twinnell House has been repaired and that she should return there while she waits for her new home in Barton Hill. However, she says she and her son are too traumatised to return to the scene of the fire - which claimed the life of her neighbour on the top floor, Abdul Jabar Oryakhel - and is worried that by refusing to return to her old flat the council will say she has made herself "intentionally homeless".
