Mother and three children die in house fire as father desperately tries to save them

Three children and their mother died in a house fire as their father desperately tried to smash his way back inside to save them.

The children’s father reportedly escaped the blaze at the home in Bolton by jumping from the first floor window then tried to smash his way back in with his bare hands.

The victims of the blaze have been named locally as Anisha Umerji, 40, her two sons Hammad, 12, and Yusuf, 10, and five-year-old daughter Khadija. Their father, named locally as Zubair Umerji, remains in hospital.

Senior firefighter Tony Hunter, assistant county officer with Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, said fire crews found the distraught man trying to get into the small terraced house in Rosamond Street, in Bolton, at around 9am on Saturday.

He told the Press Association: “We found a man who had jumped from the first floor window, straight through the window on to concrete.

“He got up and then was smashing his hands through the glass of the ground floor window. He was breaking the windows with his hands. He was covered in cuts. He was absolutely distraught, screaming (that) his wife and children were in there.”

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Mr Hunter said it took four firefighters and specialist equipment to break the front door down and when they finally got inside they found devastation.

“It was a very intense fire – the plaster had come off the walls,” he said. “They made their way up in no visibility whatsoever, fighting the fire as they were going up the stairs and located the three children and mother and then had to carry them down.

“I spoke to crews when I got there – they were very emotional about it.”

Paramedics and firefighters gave the victims CPR but one of the children was pronounced dead at the scene and the woman and two other children died later in hospital.

The man, who an eyewitness described as “hammering” on the door of the terraced house, is in a stable condition.

Mr Hunter said it would be “some time” before the cause of the blaze was known, although Greater Manchester Police said it was not thought to be suspicious.

Detective Chief Inspector Chris Bridge, from GMP’s Bolton borough, said the circumstances were “utterly heartbreaking” and appealed for witnesses.

Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service tweeted: “Our deepest condolences go to the family and the community. We will be in the local area in the coming days reassuring residents.”

Tributes poured in for the family, including from Bolton-born boxer Amir Khan who retweeted the Bolton Council of Mosques, who said the family had died in the fire, and added: “Very sad news from my home town- RIP Umerji family.”

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham tweeted: “Dreadful news coming out of Bolton today. My thoughts are with the family, their friends & the whole community.”

And Bolton South East MP Yasmin Qureshi said: “I’m shocked and saddened by the fatal fire in Daubhill today. My thoughts & prayers are with the relatives, friends and neighbours.”