Sheffield house fire kills two women and three children

Two women, Shabina Begum, 54, and her 20-year-old daughter Anum Parvaiz, are also believed to have died alongside the children when the fire broke out shortly after midnight.

The house is in the quiet Wake Road area of Sharrow, south west of the city centre.

Shabina Begum’s cousin, Ishfaq Hussain Kayani, said: “It’s just a huge tragedy. Words cannot describe how sad this is. It’s a tragedy beyond description.

Family destroyed

“Just in a matter of minutes the whole family has been destroyed. The whole family has gone. You can well imagine what the children’s parents are going throughfeeling

He said a nine-week-old girl was among those who had died, along with nine-year-old Adhyan Nazim and seven-year-old Amaan Nazim. Anum Parvai was the children’s aunt and Shabina Begum their grandmother.

Four fire engines were called to the scene and an aerial ladder was also used to tackle the blaze. Police and ambulance services rushed to the house after receiving emergency calls at around 12.15am.

Investigation

A fire brigade spokesman said an investigation was now underway, involving police and fire officers, to establish the cause of the fire.

Wake Road, which lined with cars on each side, was cordoned off by police tape on Monday morning. A police spokesman said the damaged building was believed to be a terraced house.

He said: “At this stage we are not able to confirm where in the house the fire broke out or if anyone else was injured.”

Police officers and firefighters remained at the scene, he said.

A spokesman for South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue said it was a “severe” fire, and added: “our investigators are arriving here at 9am, so we we will know more later on this morning.”

5 people have sadly died following a house fire in #Sheffield. Our thoughts this morning are with all those affected http://t.co/ZM5FyPbMvi

— South Yorkshire Fire (@SYFR) April 28, 2014