Blaze girl loses fight for life

A three-year-old girl who was fighting for life after a house fire that claimed the lives of her mother and four siblings has died.

Maheen Shakoor had been in a critical condition in the burns units at the Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford since being transferred there after the blaze in Harlow, Essex.

Her mother, doctor Sabah Usmani, brothers Sohaib, 11, Muneeb, 9, and Rayyan, six, and 12-year-old sister Hira died in their end-of-terrace house in Barn Mead in the early hours of Monday.

Father Abdul Shakoor, also a doctor, suffered minor injuries as he fought to rescue his family from the blaze.

A spokesman for the Princess Alexandra Hospital, where Dr Shakoor worked and where Maheen was initially taken, said: "None of us can come close to understanding his suffering and the terrible loss of Maheen, Rayyan, Muneeb, Sohaib, Hira and his wife Sabah."

The statement continued: "On behalf of all our staff at Princess Alexandra Hospital, we extend our deepest sympathy to Dr Shakoor.

"All of us have been saddened by this tragedy and as a close-knit hospital community, many of us know Dr Shakoor and have been overwhelmed by what has happened.

"Our book of condolence, which is available for staff to sign in our hospital, is being filled with the most heartfelt and genuine messages which are truly humbling.

"Our thoughts and our prayers are with our dear friend and colleague."