House fire in London leaves six dead

Victims in Neasden blaze all believed to be members of the same family Six people, including three children and two teenagers, have been killed in a house fire in north-west London. Around six fire engines and 30 firefighters were called out at about 1am Saturday morning to tackle the blaze at the house in Sonia Gardens, Neasden. It is believed all the victims, including a boy aged two, are members of the same family. Two other people who escaped from the blaze, believed to be a man and a 16-year-old girl, were taken to hospital with burn injuries, according to the London fire brigade. The fire is being treated as unexplained, and the Metropolitan police and LFB have begun an investigation, a police spokesman said. The Metropolitan police confirmed that a woman, two teenage girls and three children had died in the fire. The adult was a 41-year-old woman, the two teenage girls were 14 and 13. The children were a nine-year-old girl and two boys aged five and two. A spokesman for the force also confirmed that two people had been injured in the fire. He said: “Two people have been taken to west London hospitals – a man, aged 51, and a girl aged 16 years. “The girl is understood to be in a critical condition and the man’s condition is described as stable. “All those killed and injured are believed to be members of the same family.” A London ambulance service spokeswoman said: “We sent the air ambulance doctor in a car, four ambulance crews and a hazardous area response team. Sadly four youngsters and an adult were dead at the scene. Our staff treated a five-year-old boy in cardiac arrest but despite extensive efforts they were unable to resuscitate him.” Police said the girl was understood to be in a critical condition while the man was less serious. Glen Gorman, of LFB, speaking at the scene to BBC News, said: “Crews worked extremely hard in some very, very, difficult conditions and were able to prevent fire spreading to adjoining properties and causing further injuries or even further tragedy. “There is a forensic examination being carried out at the moment, our specialist fire investigation unit, in conjunction with the Metropolitan police fire investigators, will carry out a full investigation which could take a number of days to reach its conclusion.” He added: “Our sincere condolences go out to the family and the friends of the people who have been involved in such a tragic incident.” London David Batty guardian.co.uk

Posted by on September 24, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.