21-year-old Portuguese girl dies in London fire

Sofia Duarte, 21 years old, lost her life following a fire that broke out last Sunday, January 1st, in a Nigerian restaurant located in the building where she was located, in the south of the British capital.

At the scene, the British authorities found the young woman’s body in one of the apartments of the residential complex affected by the fire that broke out in the Nigerian restaurants Calabar Zone, in Old Kent Road, in South London.

According to the “My London” news website, a naked man jumped from the balcony of one of the houses in an attempt to survive, while another individual and a couple managed to escape the flames – which in about two minutes consumed much of the building.

Alda Simões, a friend of Sofia Duarte, wrote, on a page on which a fundraising campaign was created to help the family pay for the young woman’s funeral, that she had gone to the building, now destroyed, to meet with the boyfriend, ending up being the only one who couldn’t get away.

“She was our queen, Sofia loved life”, recalled the friend of the young Portuguese woman, who is helping the victim’s relatives to give her the farewell “that she deserves”.

The mother only found out about her daughter’s death when, on the day of the tragedy, a friend called her to inform her that he had seen a publication on social networks with a photo of Sofia, wishing her to rest in peace.

The Portuguese woman, who was a “bartender”, aspired to become a prison guard and help with the rehabilitation of prisoners. However, Sofia’s main dream was “to succeed, so that her mother would be proud of her.”

“She was a superstar, she kept me going,” Kyle Steward, Sofia’s close friend, told The Evening Standard.

“She was wild, fun, and knew how to live. She loved style, travelling, she had already been to Dubai and loved the warm climate. She was always between London and Lisbon”, he stressed, adding that he was “the perfect person”.

For now, authorities still don’t know what caused the fire, but an investigation is underway.