Hounslow house fire: Mother and her three children ‘including baby’ died when fire ripped through their home in ‘seconds’ – as family say blaze started in outside bin and firefighters probe Diwali fireworks
The brother-in-law of a father who lost his wife and three children in a fatal house fire in Hounslow last night has claimed that the initial blaze ‘began in an outside bin’ on a night when Diwali fireworks were ringing around the estate.
Distraught father Aroen Kishen was seen by neighbours screaming ‘my kids, my kids’ after the fire which also killed one other person – with one further person still unaccounted for still missing following the blaze.
The Sun reports that included among the dead was Mr and Mrs Kishen’s baby who was inside the house which went up in flames in just ‘eight seconds.’
The Metropolitan Police have said they cannot rule out fireworks as a possible cause of the fatal blaze, with Chief Superintendent Sean Wilson admitting: ‘At this stage, this is being investigated both by ourselves and specialist fire officers.’
Mr Kishen’s brother-in-law Dileep Singh, who lives in Manchester but travelled to London when news of the fire broke out, has said the surviving family is ‘desperate for information’.
Aroen Kishen and his wife Seema (pictured with their children) were in the house on Channel Close, Hounslow, when the blaze broke out last night
It has been claimed that the initial blaze ‘began in an outside bin’ on a night when Diwali fireworks were ringing around the estate
The Metropolitan Police have said they cannot rule out fireworks as a possible cause of the fatal blaze
He said: ‘I received a call and came as soon as I could with my wife we are desperate for information.
‘My brother in law is alive but I don’t know what has happened to everyone else.
‘We are desperate. I was told the fire came from outside from a bin.
‘We are going to the hospital to try to get more information.’
The enormous inferno ripped through the property on west London’s Channel Close with only one man managing to leave the home before the fire brigade arrived.
He was rushed to hospital with non-life threatening injuries and one person still remains unaccounted for.
READ MORE: Pictured: Mother and her children among five killed in fire as father screamed ‘my kids, my kids’ – with sixth family member still missing after inferno tore through home
Locals in the area of West London where five people died in a house fire last night have told of hearing horrific screams from the family.
The back of Inder Kondal’s home in Hounslow has a view of the home on Channel Close which burned down last night.
The father-of-two, whose young daughters watched on as the house burned, said the flames spread so fast throughout the house that it had engulfed the property within a minute and a half.
Mr Kondal, 48, also echoed his neighbours in highlighting the amount of fireworks which were going off at the same time as the fire.
He said it was around half ten last night when he first saw the flames across the road.
‘What we saw was pretty crazy,’ Mr Kondal, who works in security, said.
‘We heard someone say, ‘Get my son out’. We could hear people screaming and stuff. It was horrific. The fireworks going on were crazy. It was horrendous.
‘My 12-year-old daughter was in the garden and saw the flames. It’s so sad. Within a minute the fire had gone all the way through.
‘One and a half minutes in, it was in through the back. It was instant.’
Mr Kondal added that he had heard a rumour that a stray firework had set fire to a bin outside the home.
Shown the photo of the of Aroen Kishen and his family which is circulating in the press, Mr Kondal said he recognised them ‘a bit’.
His neighbor, Ram Saldhu, said he also recognised the family shown to him in the photo, having seen them on Channel Close previously when walking past.
The father-of-four, 63, said: ‘I have lived here for 35 years and have never seen anything like this before.
‘We were doing fireworks and finished about eight o’clock. We went out the back and saw the flashing lights and the smoke.
‘An alleyway goes in front of their [the Kishen family’s] house, and we saw them sometimes, but didn’t know them personally.
‘I saw their children going out to play in the summer sometimes.
‘There were lots of fireworks going off last night. I saw the flashing lights about ten o’clock, and I could see the smoke coming out [of the house].
‘It’s very bad news.’
The enormous inferno ripped through the property on West London’s Channel Close
Police launch an investigation after five people died in catastrophic house fire in Hounslow
Other neighbours described the moment the fire ripped through the property around 10.20pm and some have claimed that Diwali fireworks may have been a cause – however, this has neither been confirmed nor ruled out by authorities.
Describing the aftermath of the inferno, Neighbour Felicia Matei, 29, told of how she grabbed her children and ran for cover.
She told MailOnline: ‘We saw the man who lived there with his wife and children. My daughter used to play with his daughter.
‘He was screaming something like “my kids, my kids”.
‘It was a big fire. I screamed to my family and said we need to run away.’
Another neighbour told how she feared the fatal house fire in Hounslow had been caused by a ‘misfired firework’.
During Diwali, it is customary to light candles and launch fireworks to symbolize the victory of good over evil and light over darkness.
The mother-of-one told MailOnline: ‘Yesterday was Diwali and there were a lot of fireworks flying around.
‘So when I heard that a house had caught fire I thought it must have been the result of a firework that had been misfired.’
Emergency services are seen near the burnt out property in Hounslow today
Over 70 emergency workers from the London Fire Brigade attended the inferno last night
The neighbour, who asked not to be identified, added: ‘It’s so sad that something terrible like this has happened. Because it’s Diwali everyone was dressed up in nice clothes and everyone was happy.
‘But the amount of fireworks being let off made it dangerous to be out in the streets.’
Speaking at the scene, Chief Superintendent Sean Wilson said: ‘Sadly, we believe that three of those that have died were children and there is at least one other person, an adult, who remains unaccounted for.
‘This is truly a terrible incident. The loss of so many lives will cause unimaginable distress to the family and friends, and the communities, of all those involved.’
He went on: ‘I know that people across the country will be shocked and saddened by this terrible event last night.
‘Now, everyone will want to know why this tragedy occurred and we will be working tirelessly with our colleagues in the London Fire Brigade to find those answers.
‘At this time we have an open mind as to the cause of the fire and I would ask people not to add to that uncertainty by speculating.’
Mr Wilson, when asked if he could rule out fireworks as a possible cause of the fatal blaze, said: ‘At this stage, this is being investigated both by ourselves and specialist fire officers.
‘I am not ruling anything out, I don’t think we are in a position to do that.
‘We keep an open mind, it is such an early stage and there is an awful lot of work to be done.’
The Evening Standard reports that the Kishen family had recently moved to London from Belgium.
Speaking to the paper, neighbour Adelin Matei said: ‘They moved here from Belgium. They are a lovely family. They had Christmas lights around the front door. I don’t know whether the fire had anything to do with it. There was smoke in our house.’
Describing the fire, another neighbour added: ‘All we saw was smoke. There were loads of fireworks. Every Diwali.
‘They were going on while responders were here. It’s normal and traditional. It went on to well past one or two.’
Speaking to MyLondon, Kirit Valand, 70, lives on nearby Sutton Road, also said he had heard fireworks.
He said: ‘I went outside to see what happened and the fire brigade told us to shut our windows and doors. I was in panic, I didn’t sleep properly.
‘I was worried the fire would spread further. There were fireworks going off across the area for Diwali. It’s very sad.’
Only one man managed to escape before the fire brigade arrived with one person still missing
Around 70 firefighters and ten fire engines were present at the scene in Hounslow
Nick Marbrow, who lives on Sutton Road, with a view towards the burned-out house from his home, said he noticed an ‘unusual amount of smoke’ on Sunday evening.
He said: ‘When I went to bed last night, I could see a lot of smoke.
‘I could see an unusual amount of smoke, but then it is Diwali, there were fireworks going off.
‘It’s very unusual for this area, it’s safe around here.’
Ashish Sosniah, who was passing the street on his way to temple, said he saw fireworks going off ‘for an hour’ between 8pm and 9pm.
He said: ‘There were lots of fireworks going off for Diwali. I could see white smoke.’
Mr Sosniah said that when he next passed at around 11.30pm there were emergency services at the scene.
Ruth Cadbury, the MP for Hounslow, has offered her condolences to the family.
The MP said: ‘I am devastated to learn this morning that five people, including children, died in a fire in a house in Hounslow last night. My thoughts are with their family, friends neighbours.’
Once firefighters managed to enter the property, they found five people on the first floor of the home, who were pronounced dead at the scene.
Around 70 firefighters and ten fire engines were present at the inferno.
The ground floor and first floors of a mid-terraced house were destroyed by fire and part of the roof was also damaged by the blaze.
Nearby homes were evacuated during the blaze, which was brought under control by 1.25am on Monday.
London Fire Commissioner Andy Roe has also offered his condolences.
Police say that it is thought all five victims, including children, were from the same family
The services added it is not currently clear what caused the fire at the west London address
He said: ‘This is a terribly sad incident and the thoughts of all of us at London Fire Brigade are with the family, friends and all those affected at this difficult time.
‘Staff will be in the local community today to offer support and advice where needed.
‘The London Fire Brigade was called at 10.26pm and the fire was under control by 1.25am. Fire crews from Heston, Southall, Twickenham, Hayes, Feltham and surrounding fire stations attended the scene.
‘The cause of the fire is under investigation.’
The London Ambulance Service also dispatched five ambulances, two officers, a Hazardous Area Response Team (HART), and the London Air Ambulance to provide medical assistance.
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