Sutton house fire: Woman arrested after four boys die in house blaze

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A 27-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of child neglect after two sets of young twins were killed in a house fire in south London.

The boys, named locally as Kyson, Bryson, Leyton and Logan, were given CPR by firefighters called to Collingwood Road in Sutton.

All of the boys, aged three and four, were taken to hospital but later died. No-one else was found at the house.

The cause of Thursday evening's fire is under investigation.

LFB's deputy commissioner Richard Mills said the first firefighters arrived in under three minutes after being called before 19:00 GMT.

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"On arrival there were four children in the house," Mr Mills said.

"Entering a building and rescuing life is always a very difficult place to be.

"The age of the children, the fact they are so young, will have a profound impact on them [the firefighters].

"The cause of the fire is currently unknown and we have fire investigation teams on scene at present along with the Metropolitan Police to determine the cause of the fire."

Mr Mills added that a number of firefighters were being given counselling, while some had followed the ambulance to the hospital to make sure resuscitation efforts were not interrupted.

Floral tributes were laid outside the police cordon on Collingwood Road on Friday morning, with a message on one bouquet reading: "To Kyson Bryson Leyton + Logan. Sleep well. Love Grandad."

At the scene

BBC London's Tarah Welsh

Everyone feels upset and quite shocked and traumatised by what has happened.

At one point, some nursery teachers came down to pay their respects and were clearly distressed; they said the boys had their Christmas presents waiting for them.

All of them had come through the one nursery and one of the key workers described how lovely the boys were.

Another local woman said she saw them with their mum yesterday and said the boys were really lovely, cheeky and fun.

A vicar has also paid her respects, coming in on her day off to light a candle as she felt she had to do this.

Sixty firefighters battled an "intense" blaze throughout the entire ground floor of the mid-terrace property.

After finding the children inside the house, crews brought them outside where they were given "immediate emergency care".

Trauma teams from London's Air Ambulance and Air Ambulance Kent Surrey Sussex were also dispatched.

The London Ambulance Service's Brian Jordan told BBC Breakfast: "We had a whole range of our resources there to try and do everything we could to save the children.

"All of our crews are trained to deal with situations like this, but these kinds of situations will obviously be affecting them very hard.

"We will obviously provide all the support to them that we can.

"I think it's very difficult at this time of year as we approach Christmas and that makes it much more poignant as well."

My thoughts and prayers are with the families and loved ones of the four young children who tragically lost their lives in the fire in Sutton yesterday. I am being kept updated by the emergency services and I would like to thank them for their work in such sad circumstances 🙏🏽

— Priti Patel (@pritipatel) December 17, 2021

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.View original tweet on Twitter

Home Secretary Priti Patel has paid her respects to the boys, writing on Twitter that her "thoughts and prayers are with the families and loved ones".

Two of the boys went to Westbourne Primary School in Sutton.

In a statement it said: "We will continue to support the children, the staff, the families and the community through these very difficult times."

The Reverend Frances Arnold, priest of the local St Nicholas Church, described the deaths as a "great shock and tragic loss of life".

Manager of Sutton United Football Club, Matt Gray, laid a scarf featuring the team's colours as he paid tribute.

The arrested woman remains in police custody.