Dad of children killed in house blaze got panicked final call saying ‘fire fire’
'It is a tragedy. You can't prepare for these kinds of things.'
A woman who died in a burning house along with her children made a last desperate phone call to her husband before the line went dead.
The woman’s shouts of ‘fire, fire’ down the phone prompted her husband Yogan to sprint to the blazing house in south east London, relatives have revealed.
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 on Thursday.
They used ladders to pull a woman, her two young children and her own mother from the blaze but all four were pronounced dead at the scene.
The wife’s brother was also in the property at the time of the blaze and managed to escape by jumping from a window, breaking his legs in the process.
Following the tragedy, neighbours and relatives have laid tributes and left messages of condolence at the address.
Yogan’s cousing Jega said the family had recently moved from Sri Lanka and the mother-in-law was due to return today.
He said he had last spoken to him on Friday following the tragedy.
Jega 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”.’
Jega added: ‘It’s so sad. Yogan can’t speak. It’s very sad – it’s impossible to describe what he’s going through.
‘His brother-in-law is in hospital – no one has had the chance to speak to him yet. We’ve heard broken legs.
‘It is a tragedy. You can’t prepare for these kinds of things. You never expect things to happen in the family.’
Jega said he had last seen the family at a wedding a few weeks ago and described the children as ‘happy’.
‘The mother-in-law was supposed to be flying back to Sri Lanka today,’ he said.
‘What I heard is they were packing her stuff to get her to Gatwick today. They were upstairs – we don’t know exactly where but it might have started downstairs or in the staircase.’
Jega said Yogan had been left devasted by the incident.
‘He just bought the house three months ago. They have two young children. He was at work at the time of the incident. He works local in retail.
‘We just came to see him and we don’t know how to comfort him. He’s the only surviving member of his family. His two sisters also live close by.
‘Hopefully they can be there for him.’
Another man who said he was was the cousin of the husband told The Mirror the children were a boy aged around four and a girl around 18-months old.
Mayil Mathivathanan, 46, who used to work with Yogan said he visited him after learning about the tragedy.
He said: ‘I just went to see him as I was passing to pick my son up from school who is the same age as Logan’s son.
‘He is okay. But understandably very upset. He kept crying and saying the names of his children. The pain is unimaginable. And he is such a nice guy.’
Emergency services were called to Hamilton Road in Bexleyheath at around 8.30pm on Thursday, November 18 following reports of a house fire.
Police, London Fire Brigade and the ambulance service all attended.
A spokesperson for the Met Police said: ‘Two adult women, and two children – believed to an infant boy and girl – were pronounced dead at the scene.
‘Their next of kin have been informed.
‘A man remains in hospital with injuries to his legs. His condition is not thought to be life-threatening.
‘A further person was taken to hospital by LAS after he arrived at the scene.
‘Next of kin are aware and receiving specialist support.
‘The deceased are all believed to have been related to each other.
‘At this early stage, the cause of the fire is not thought to be suspicious and there have been no arrests.’
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. In these very early stages we don’t believe the cause of the fire is suspicious.’
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