Heartbreaking tributes have been paid to a mother and her children who died in a devastating house fire in Hounslow.
Five people believed to be from the same family, including three children, died in the blaze in Channel Close on Sunday evening.
The adults who lived at the home have been named locally as Aroen Kishen and his wife Seema, while the children have been named in a tribute from their school as Riyan, Shanaya and Arohi.
Mr Kishen was on Tuesday still being treated in hospital after the blaze that he managed to escape. Neighbours heard him shouting for his children as the fire raged.
Investigators continue to scour the charred wreckage of their west London home.
Individual bunches of flowers for the three children were placed at the scene on Tuesday on behalf of Springwell School, Hounslow. Tributes attached to the flowers read: "Rest in peace sweet child."
A tribute left on behalf of a Mrs Sheldon said: "Words cannot even begin to express our sorrow at hearing the loss of three beautiful souls.
"Forever in our hearts! Good night and God bless."
Another tribute left on behalf of "year 6" read: "Dear Riyan. I am so sorry that this has happened to you.
"All crying today and missing you today. You are still part of our family.
"We will never forget you, and you will always be in our hearts. May God grant you eternal life in heaven."
Rafiah Dhillon, 56, who lives less than 50 metres from the burnt house, said the family always kept a "beautiful garden."
The nurse said: "My son is partially sighted so we walk him around the block every day and we used to go past their house.
"I didn't know the family but they always had a beautiful garden with lots of flowers and a nice bench outside. It was lovely to walk past.
"I came home at around midnight on Sunday. When the police escorted me into my home, the house was still ablaze and there was lots of smoke.
"It was very scary. I couldn't sleep and I didn't want to look away."
Another adult’s life was also claimed in the fire which engulfed the two-storey house in the early hours of Monday morning. Another person believed to have been at the house is unaccounted for.
More than 70 firefighters fought the blaze which ripped through the property.
Jeweller Felicia Matei, who lives next door to the family, described the horror as she saw Mr Krishen outside the house with flames on his arm.
She added: “He was shouting ‘my kids, my kids’ he had fire on his arm... he looked lost.”
As he was treated for his injuries fire investigators and police aided by forensic experts were searching for clues as to how the fire started.
Mr Aroen’s brother-in-law Dileep Singh, who came from Manchester as soon as he was alerted to the fire told the Standard he had been told the fire started in a bin outside the house.
He said: “It started in the bin that’s the information I was given.”
However, police and firefighters have emphasised that they have an “open mind” as to the causes of the fire which is being treated by Scotland Yard as “unexplained”. They said they were not actively seeking any suspects in connection with the incident but were deploying more officers in the area to reassure residents.
The well-liked family had moved to Hounslow form Belgium and were renting the house.
Neighbour Ms Matei added: “They are a lovely family. My daughter used to play with theirs - it’s heartbreaking.”
Jonathan Smith, the London Fire Brigade’s (LFB) deputy commissioner, said the incident was “one of the most significant fires the LFB has faced in terms of the numbers of people who were trapped”.
Mr Smith told the London Assembly on Tuesday: “We’ve got fire crews there today providing community support to everyone who’s in the local area to make sure that if people have got questions around the cause of the fire, any particular concerns, that we’re able to do that [address them].
“I’ve been working very closely with the Fire Brigades Union to make sure that we’re providing the support to our staff, to make sure that we’re supporting the Metropolitan Police and the London Ambulance Service, who also attended.
“What we do have is specialist teams who are there all this week and will be going into next week, to make sure that we can understand what’s caused this fire, working very closely with specialist teams in the Metropolitan Police Service."
He added: “This is a human tragedy and our heartfelt sympathies go to the friends and family of everyone who was involved.”
