Phone charger started fire that killed five members of family
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Loading... - SUTH INTHUVARMAN
- 10 Jun 2020
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Five people from the same family died in a horrific house fire started by a faulty phone charger, an inquest has heard.
Three children died along with their grandmother and aunt at the house in Sheffield, South Yorkshire.
The body of seven-year-old Amaan Parwaiz Kayani found under his bunkbed where he is believed to have tried to hide from the ‘ferocious’ flames.
The fire also killed his nine-week-old sister Minahil, nine-year-old brother Adyan, grandmother Shabina Begum, 53, and 20-year-old aunt Anum Parwaiz.
It is believed that the fire started shortly after the family went to bed in April last year.
Anum Parwai and Shabina Begum died in the fire (Picture: Ross Parry)
Fire officers described the blaze as ‘ferocious’ and the ‘most difficult’ they worked in with temperatures ‘in excess of 1,000°C’, adding it was the biggest loss of life in a fatal fire for six years.
Family member Sadaf Parwaiz, whose phone was on charge, had spotted flames sparking by the electric sockets in the living room as she went downstairs to retreive her phone.
She said: ‘I saw a sparkle at first near the sofa where the electrical things were. At first I didn’t think it was a fire, I thought it was a toy flashing.’
Sadaf said she tried to extinguish the flames with a cushion, then called her mum Shabina Begum for help when it failed to work.
‘She tried to put it out with her own hands then went to the kitchen to get some water, but I didn’t see where she threw it.’
The inquest in Sheffield heard how Shabina Begum then unlocked the door before running upstairs to fetch the children.
The fire ripped through the house in April last year (Picture: Ross Parry)
Coroner Chris Dorries said: ‘Your mum had an opportunity to escape from the house but she was very brave, wasn’t she?’
Sadaf added: ‘Yes. The fire was producing a lot of smoke. It got to the electric equipment and caused an explosion then all the lights went out.’
The hearing heard how seven-year-old Amaan was found under a bunk bed in his attic room by fire crews who battled zero visibilty climbing the flame-engulfed stairs.
Fire officer for South Yorkshire Fire confirmed to the coroner that ‘children often try and hide and find a place of safety when they are scared. It’s a natural reaction to the danger they are in.’
Fire investigator Andrew Strelczenie confirmed the fire started in the family’s living room in a corner by the sofa.
He said electrical items in the corner of the room were the most charred and were taken away for inspection by crews after the devastating blaze.
The inquest continues.
