Woman who died in fire phoned husband as flames engulfed house, relative says
Two women and two children died in the blaze in Bexleyheath, south-east London.
A woman who died in a fire made a desperate phone call to her husband while flames engulfed the house, a relative has said.
The woman’s shouts of “fire, fire” through the phone prompted her husband to run to the blazing house in south east London on Thursday evening, according to the husband’s cousin, who gave his name only as Jega.
Around 40 London Fire Brigade (LFB) firefighters in six engines and officers from the Metropolitan Police also rushed to the semi-detached terrace on Hamilton Road in Bexleyheath at around 8.30pm.
The Met said two women and an infant boy and girl, all believed to be related, were pronounced dead at the scene.
Using ladders and breathing apparatus, crews managed to pull the adults and children from the property, but they were pronounced dead at the scene.
Jega told the PA news agency that he had spoken to his cousin on Friday.
He said: “He (the husband) said he got a call from his wife and she was just shouting and then the call ended. It went silent.
“She was shouting ‘fire fire’.”
He added: “It is so sad. It is impossible to comfort him or to describe what he is going through.”
The cousin described the youngsters who died as “happy children” and added that “it looks like an accident and you can’t prepare for that.”
The cousin said the family were of Sri Lankan heritage.
“The downstairs was on fire and then the whole house went up. It was engulfed in flames. There wasn’t an explosion,” he told the PA news agency.
Mr James said he told other neighbours to stay back until firefighters arrived who “very quickly had ladders up to the windows” and pulled one woman out from the upper level.
“I saw them yesterday and waved at them,” he said.
“I spoke to them just to say hello. It was just pleasantries. It is very sad to wake up this morning and hear they have perished.”
Ling Han, 36, who lives 10 metres away, said her family heard “sharp screaming” coming from inside the house and her children told her “there was a big fire”.
She saw firefighters take two children out of the house and the emergency services trying to save their lives.
“They tried really hard to do CPR. They never gave up. They tried to do CPR for the children,” she said.
“I saw a huge flame in the first floor.
“I am just so sad because we could see people in danger and could not do anything for them.”
A fire engine was parked outside the house on Friday morning, and the blackened first floor windows could be seen from behind a police cordon.
Uniformed officers stood guard in front of blue sheets at the end of the road, where mourners had laid flowers.
Detective Chief Superintendent Trevor Lawry, head of policing for Bexley, Lewisham and Greenwich said: “Our thoughts are with the family of the deceased, who have suffered such an awful and devastating loss.
“We have officers in the location and I know these sentiments are shared by residents across the Bexley and London as a whole.
“Our inquiries are ongoing and we will continue to work with our colleagues in the London Fire Brigade to fully understand the cause of this terrible incident.”
London Fire Commissioner Andy Roe said: “This is a truly terrible incident which is both sad and shocking.
“Our thoughts are with the family, friends and local community at this difficult time.”
