A heroic neighbour revealed he helped to save two people in a deadly house fire in Brent, London – now, four people are confirmed to have died in the fire on Saturday morning
Brent: Floral tributes left at the scene of a house fire
A heroic electrician dramatically smashed his way into a burning home to save two people from a deadly fire. Four people died in the fire at a property in Brent, northwest London, which went up in flames in the early hours of Saturday.
Brave man Victor Pedra heard a father screaming “my children, my wife, my whole family is in there” as the home on Tillett Close, Stonebridge, burned. Mr Pedra ran towards the blaze and gained access to his neighbour’s house by breaking a window. Mr Pedra, a father of two, rescued a woman in her 70s and a teenage girl who were both members of the family. Police said the pair were taken to hospital by the London Ambulance Service (LAS).
In an update today, police said the girl, 13, remains in a critical condition while the older woman has been released from hospital. They named the four victims of the fire as Nusrat Usman, 43, Maryam Mikaiel, 15, Musa Usman, eight, and Raees Usman, four.
A 41-year-old man was arrested in the early hours outside the houses. Police have now said he has since been bailed and then subsequently detained under the Mental Health Act.
Mr Pedra, 33, told The Sun: “I heard the dad outside crying and screaming ‘my children, my wife, my whole family is in there’. He was in shock and couldn’t really speak. I had gone outside and saw people standing around watching these huge flames so I just knew I had to act. I cut my hand breaking the window.”
He added that the grandmother and one of the daughters were able to get out safely through the garden. The front door had been blocked by fire.
Mr Pedra said the flames were “so strong” and there was “smoke everywhere” so he was unable to get to the second floor where a mum and son were. A 43-year-old woman and three of her children, a 15-year-old girl and two boys aged eight and four, died at the scene of the blaze.
Mr Pedra also said he had to wake up the people in the property next door. He then saw firefighters bring out the mum and one of the sons can perform CPR on them for around an hour. “It was really tough to see,” he said.
His partner Leticia Maria said she was “speechless” and left in so much shock she did not even realise one of her friends was one of the firefighters. She also said that the girl who escaped was “covered in black stuff” from the fire.
Superintendent Steve Allen, from the Met’s local policing team in north-west London, said that specialist officers are supporting the wider family. “Local officers are working closely with officers from the Specialist Crime Command on what continues to be a very complex investigation,” he said.
Tariq Dar MBE, a councillor for the Cricklewood and Mapesbury ward, said in a post on Facebook that the man who lost his wife and three of his children was named Usman Ghani. He wrote: “It is with profound sadness that we share the heartbreaking news of the passing of the wife and three beloved children—a daughter and two young sons—of Brother Usman Ghani in a tragic house fire in Wembley last night. Please remember the entire family in your heartfelt duas during this incredibly difficult time.”