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17th Dec 2021

Four children killed in London house blaze after 60 firefighters battled the flames

Charlie Herbert

The fire broke out in Sutton on Thursday night, just before 7pm

Four children have died after a house fire at a home in London on Thursday night.

All four of the children are believed to have been related and under the age of five, and were killed when a blaze broke out at their home on Collingwood Road, Sutton, just before 7pm last night.

The fire was described as “intense” across the entire ground floor of the property, which was a mid-terrace house.

Firefighters entered the building to rescue the children inside, giving them CPR on the street until paramedics arrived.

But all four children were pronounced dead when they were taken to hospital.

The fire raged from 6.55pm until 8.35pm, with 60 crew members called out to battle the flames.

The cause of the fire is still unknown and no arrests have been made.

London Fire commissioner Andy Roe said in a statement last night that those who attended were “numb” at the tragedy.

“This is an incident that has left everyone numb with profound sadness,” he said.

“My thoughts are with the family and friends of the children, the whole local community and all those who will be affected by this fire.

“Fire crews arrived quickly and located the children inside the property.

“They were brought out of the house and given immediate emergency care.

“The welfare of our staff involved in this incident is very important to us and all of them will be offered counselling as a priority.”

Superintendent Rob Shepherd of the Met Police said: “The thoughts of everyone at the South Area Command Unit are with the family and friends of these four young children, who have suffered such a devastating and tragic loss last night.

“I know these sentiments will be shared by the local community, Sutton and London as a whole. We remain on scene with our emergency service colleagues and will be working through the night and beyond.

“At this very early stage the cause of the fire is unknown and will be investigated.”

Graham Norton, assistant director of operations at London Ambulance Service, said resources including advanced paramedics, members of the Hazardous Area Response Team and two trauma teams attended.

“We treated four children at the scene and took them to hospital,” he said.

“Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the four young children and everyone affected by this devastating tragedy.

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