Grenfell Tower fire: Chilling Facebook Live shows missing mother trapped with children on 23rd floor

A mother who shot a harrowing Facebook Live video while trapped on the 23rd floor of the blazing Grenfell Tower is still missing, along with her two young children.

Rania Ibrham, 30, can be heard in the video shouting for help as the corridor outside her flat fills with black smoke.

She and her neighbours are seen desperately trying to find a way out of the high-rise building in west London as it is consumed by flames.

At one point Rania, a carer and charity volunteer, is heard shouting outside of her window to the ground below for help while also trying to comfort her children, aged three and five.

Rania's distressed sister, who did not want to be named, told IBTimes UK she and her children are still missing.

She described Rania as a "happy, loving, caring" type of person who spent her life helping others. "If anyone asked for help, she would never turn them down," she told IBTimes UK.

A family friend is currently comforting Rania's loved ones at their London home while they await news. "It's sad for anyone to listen to that video. She was taking people in to help them.

"She lived on the other side of the tower [from where the fire started]. She tried to get out but they [emergency services] told her to stay indoors."

Rania lived on the 24th floor but is believed to have fled with her children to another flat on the floor below when the fire broke out.

Her Facebook Live video begins with another woman telling Rania not to open the flat's front door as it will "let the smoke in".

The woman then says: "You have your children, standing near the door, the smoke is not going to help you."

After hearing shouts in the smoke-filled corridor, Rania ignores the advice and briefly opens the door to provide shelter to other trapped residents.

The six-and-a-half minute clip then shows her shout for help out the window to the ground below, before telling someone: "The police are telling us to get out. The whole building is on fire and we're on the floor above. How are we going to get out?"

The clip abruptly ends a short time later. She later sent a Snapchat message at 2.45am in which she said in Arabic, "forgive me everyone, goodbye".

The chilling message is the last Rania's loved ones heard from her; it is not known if she is among the dead, in hospital or managed to escape unharmed.

Rania, originally from Aswan, Egypt, had attended Oxford University to study economics and political science but dropped out towards the end of her studies for family reasons.

She works as a carer and charity volunteer, helping disabled people, the homeless and vulnerable children, her family said.

Her husband was out of the country when the fire broke out but is understood to have returned to London on hearing news of the fire.

Seventeen people have so far been confirmed dead in the blaze, which consumed almost the entire 24-floor north Kensington building.

Mohammed Al Haj Ali, the first named victim, had fled war-torn syria to seek refuge in London.

Officials say 78 people have been taken to hospital, with 18 in critical condition. Many others are still missing.

The leader of Kensington and Chelsea Borough Nick Paget-Brown said "several hundred" people would have been in the block when the fire broke out.

Eyewitnesses said they saw people trapped inside their homes screaming for help and jumping from windows.

Some even threw their children to safety, with one witness seeing a desperate resident drop their baby from "the ninth or 10th floor" into the arms of a member of the public below.

Firefighters searched in the scorched wreckage for survivors throughout Wednesday night.

London Fire Commissioner Dany Cotton said "unknown numbers" of people remain in the tower and that no more survivors are expected to be found.

The cause of the fire is not known at this stage, the LFB said.

Residents claimed they had warned about fire safety fears for years but were ignored by the council and the tower block's management company.

The fire affected all floors of the building, from the second floor up, and at its height some 40 fire engines and more than 200 firefighters were at the scene.

On Thursday, the Queen issued a message of condolence for the victims while Prime Minister Theresa May ordered a public inquiry into the circumstances of the fire.