A terrified wife who died in a horror house blaze alongside her mother and two young children had called her husband at work from her burning home shouting ‘fire, fire’ before her phone went dead.
The Sri Lankan woman, who has not been named, rang him at around 8.30pm yesterday as firefighters were racing to the property in Bexleyheath, south east London.
She later died with her son, four, one-year-old daughter and their grandmother, while a brother-in-law escaped the flames by jumping from a the top floor and breaking his legs.
The husband, called Yogan Thangavadivel, was later seen ‘screaming and crying’ and collapsing on the ground outside the house as fire crews worked to retrieve their bodies.
Neighbours said they watched helplessly as the blaze tore through the semi-detached home after starting downstairs.
A faulty fire alarm may have led to the devastating inferno, it was claimed, as police and fire investigators probe why no alert was sounded after suggesting the was not suspicious.
The young children are believed to have died in their beds while their mother was hauled out of an upstairs window at the property but could not be saved.
The victims are believed to have moved to the area three months ago, after the £425,000 property was taken off the market.
A group of relatives – three women and two men – broke down in tears on the road this morning and were comforted by police in front of the blackened 1930s three-bed.
Neighbours and well-wishers were also laying flowers at the scene, with one saying: ‘My heart aches for this loss of precious life to your family.’
They told how the blaze tore through the semi-detached property after supposedly starting on the downstairs as they watched on helplessly
Builder Scott James said today the house was ‘quickly engulfed in flames’ as smoke blew out to the street from about 8.30pm
One of the windows has blackened glass in it while the other has been completely blown out during the horror blaze last night
A forensic officer enters a house through a window following a fire on Hamilton Road in Bexleyheath, south-east London
The officer opens the window carefully before stepping inside the burnout home, armed with a camera, mask and a helmet
A group of three women and two men broke down on the road this morning and were comforted by police in front of the blackened 1930s three-bedroom house
The police officer bends down to help up one of the group who appears to break down in tears while the others watch over her.
The Daily Mail, UK.
