A toddler has been left with serious heart and kidney problems after pest control chemicals were found at the block of flats where his family lives, his uncle claims.
Santiago Mendieta said he was devastated to hear about the death of 11-year-old Fatiha Sabrin and was worried he would lose his sister and nephew after they were rushed to hospital.
All residents from Nida House in Shadwell, East London, were evacuated on Saturday and have now been put up in hotels by the council.
Santiago, 40, originally from Ecuador, had lived there a few months with his sister Carolina, 25, nephew Liam, two, and son Gabriel, 13.
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“We are scared to go back, it’s not safe,” he told the Mirror outside the block, which remains cordoned off by police.
“If they told us to go back I would say no, it’s not safe for anyone to be living here.”
He said he had seen “big rats” in his flat and in the building’s lobby multiple times in the early hours of the morning.
“My son said he saw cockroaches in the kitchen, but I didn’t believe him until I saw it for myself. Then they were on the plates and in the cups.
“I saw big rats in the lobby when I was going to work. They passed through my legs,” he added.
On Saturday morning, Santiago said Carolina and Liam kept being sick and he eventually called them an ambulance.
“They kept vomiting, my nephew was lying on the sofa. Their skin colour was changing to yellow,” he explained.
Santiago said firefighters also arrived at the property, but paramedics initially said his sister and nephew had regular viruses and it was safe to go back inside.
Hours later, everyone was being evacuated and he was stopped by police from going back inside to get his possessions on Sunday.
He said he had been told all clothes from the block may have to be destroyed.
Asked how Carolina and Liam are doing, he said: “Right now they are getting better, a few days ago they were worse, very unwell.
“My nephew still has a problem, this has really affected him. He’s a baby, maybe it’s going to be a problem forever.
“We need to know what happened and what was used.
“I was worried they were going to die like the little girl,” he added.
Tower Hamlets councillor for Shadwell, Rabina Khan said she is attending a meeting later this week in relation to the council’s investigation into the incident.
She said it's unclear if the property's landlord or a resident had brought the chemicals inside.
