Neighbours reveal they woke to screams of help from woman on a balcony as boy, 11, dies following flat fire in east London
- Two adults and two children left the flat before firefighters arrived
- Another man was treated at the incident by London Ambulance Service crews
Neighbours were woken to the sound of screams of ‘Help!’ from a woman on a balcony as an 11-year-old boy was killed in an early morning flat fire.
A three-room flat on the second floor of a building on Stern Close, Barking was destroyed by the blaze, which emergency services were called to at 3.25am.
Two adults and two children left the flat before firefighters arrived and were taken to hospital.
Another man was treated at the incident by London Ambulance Service crews.
Met Police said that ‘at this this early stage’ the fire ‘does not appear to be suspicious’.
A three-room flat on the second floor of a building on Stern Close, Barking was destroyed by the blaze, which emergency services were called to at 3.25am
Two adults and two children left the flat before firefighters arrived and were taken to hospital
One resident, Dan, who lives in a house opposite the flats, said he saw a woman standing on the balcony shouting for help.
Dan, who did not wish to give his surname, added: ‘We heard screaming when it first happened.
‘And then we saw a woman on the balcony talking to someone. I think she we on the phone to the emergency services.
‘The fire brigade turned up within five minutes. She was still standing on the balcony on the phone to them when they arrived.
‘I could see three or four people outside on the ground by that point, but there was too much smoke to see who they were.’
Another neighbour who asked not to be named, said she was woken up around 3.30am by shouting.
She said: ‘I woke up this morning and I could hear all this shouting – there was smoke everywhere.
‘There’s a lot of kids that live in that block.
‘It’s absolutely tragic. That poor boy.’
One neighbour said a family including a mother, father and at least two children living at the property but this has not been confirmed by police.
Sadly, one child was pronounced dead at the scene. Police were called at 3.30am by London Fire Brigade
London Fire Brigade said in a statement: ‘The London Fire Brigade was called at 0325 and the incident was over for firefighters by 0518.
‘Six fire engines and around 40 firefighters from Barking, East Ham and surrounding fire stations were in attendance.
‘The cause of the fire is under investigation by the Brigade and Metropolitan Police Service.’
The Met Police said in a statement: ‘Police were called at 03:29hrs by London Fire Brigade (LFB) who were responding to reports of a fire at a residential address in Stern Close, Barking.
‘LFB attended and extinguished the fire.
‘London Ambulance Service and London’s Air Ambulance attended, sadly an 11-year-old boy was pronounced dead at the scene.
‘His next of kin have been informed.
‘Four other people, two adults and two children were taken to hospital, none were in a life threatening condition.
‘Police, in consultation with the LFB, are investigating the cause of the fire.
‘Enquiries continue, but at this this early stage, the fire does not appear to be suspicious.’