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A teenage girl is fighting for her life in hospital after she escaped a blaze which killed a mother and three of her children in north London on Saturday.
Police revealed the 13-year-old girl, who is from the same family, is in a critical condition after the fire gutted two terraced homes in Stonebridge, Brent.
A woman in her 70s, who also escaped the flames, has been discharged from hospital.
Officers are continuing to question a 41-year-old man arrested outside the house on suspicion of murder after the mother, 43, her daughter, 15, and two sons aged eight and four died in the inferno.
Flowers and a blue teddy bear were left near to the homes on Sunday as fire crews wearing helmets and respiratory equipment built scaffolding against the burnt out buildings.
Neighbour Victor Pedra said he broke a lower floor window after hearing screams from the home in Tillett Close at around 1.15am on Saturday.
The electrician 33, helped to rescue the woman in her 70s, said to be a grandmother, and the teenage girl.
“I had gone outside and saw people standing around watching these huge flames so I just knew I had to act,” he told The Sun. “I cut my hand breaking the window.
“The grandmother and one of the daughters managed to get out safely. The only way they could escape was through the garden as the front door was blocked by the fire.
“The flames were so strong and there was smoke everywhere. I couldn’t get to the second floor where the mum and her youngest son was.
“I also had to wake up the people in the house next door before it caught fire as they were all sleeping and hadn’t realised.”
Firefighters pulled a woman and a child from the second floor of the terraced home, but they died at the scene. Two more children were discovered inside the property.
Mr Pedra’s partner Leticia Maria, 31, added: “I was speechless. One of the firefighters was my friend but I didn’t even recognise him from the shock.
“It all happened so quickly. The fire seemed to take hold instantly. It seemed like it started from the top down because it wasn’t as strong at the bottom.”
London Fire Brigade (LFB) received more than 20 calls reporting the blaze, which raged until 3.24am.
LFB’s assistant commissioner Keeley Foster said: “Upon arrival, firefighters were met with a well-developed fire, involving two adjoining properties. Crews immediately set to work carrying out firefighting operations in order to bring the incident under control.
“Sadly, a woman and three children have died as a result of this fire. Crews wearing breathing apparatus were able to rescue the woman and one of the children from the second floor, but they were later declared deceased at the scene. A further two children were discovered to have died in the fire, as crews carried out a search of the properties involved.”
In a statement on Saturday, Superintendent Steve Allen, from the Metropolitan Police’s local policing team in north-west London, said detectives are leading the ongoing investigation into the cause of the fire.
“Despite the efforts of the emergency services, I can confirm a woman and three of her children died at the scene.
“A further two members of the same family were taken to hospital and continue to receive treatment.
“The wider family have been informed, and officers will continue to support them at this incredibly difficult time.”
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