Asylum seeker feared he would be 'burned alive' in Rotherham hotel attack

Video report by Katie Oscroft

An asylum seeker who was inside a hotel when it was attacked by a mob of rioters has told ITV News that he thought he was going to be "burned alive."

Ali - not his real name - was in the Holiday Inn Express in Wath-upon-Dearne, near Rotherham, when hundreds of protesters who gathered outside threw missiles and tried to set fire to the building on 4 August.

Ali said he is still "traumatised" by the events of that day.

"When I saw smoke, we were all inside and we thought we will be burned alive - sometimes when I am asleep I see this again," he said.

"We heard them smash windows with bricks. They threw missiles - we heard such a noise.If it wasn’t for the police we would have died."

Ali said the hotel staff had warned the asylum seekers ahead of the riot not to go out but that he had not expected such violence.

"We had advance warning about a protest. We didn’t take it too seriously," he said.

"Our staff said we shouldn’t leave the hotel, close curtains , don’t go out - so we thought perhaps it is serious."We already have been traumatised by our own country and we thought the UK was a safe country."

Sixty-four police officers, three police horses and a police dog were injured during the disorder.

Ali said he thought he was going to die.

He said: "I thought I would never see my family again. We smelled the smoke and we didn’t want to be inside but they smashed windows... It was many people, so we daren’t go outside."

"Thank you to the police because we would be dead if they hadn’t helped us.

"I saw with my own eyes a policeman lying on the floor hurt. And a female police [officer]. God bless them."

Ali, who has been moved to a different location since the disorder, said that he would not feel safe to return to Rotherham.

"I would like people like this to learn about us - we are not so different. I know some people, asylum seekers, do bad things but not most people."

South Yorkshire Police said 118 people have been arrested over the disorder so far while 33 people have been sentenced.

On Wednesday, 4 September, a 13-year-old boy became the youngest person to be convicted over the trouble outside the South Yorkshire hotel.

The court heard that the teenager had thrown a lit firework and stones at police guarding the hotel.

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