A devastated husband has revealed how his wife and two children were set to join him for a new life in America before they were killed in a Nottingham flat fire.
Aboubacarr Drammeh, 40, was in the process of securing visas for his wife Fatoumatta Hydara and their two young daughters so they could join him in Minnesota, where he works as a biomedical technologist.
However, a fire broke out at their flat in Fairisle Close, Clifton, in the early hours of Sunday. Three-year-old Fatimah and one-year-old Naeemah died shortly after arriving at hospital, while Fatoumatta died two days later.
A neighbour of the young family, Jamie Barrow, from Clifton, Nottingham, was charged with three counts of murder on Thursday and made a first appearance at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court the next day.
Aboubacarr, who was introduced to Fatoumatta through her uncle, said they had so much to look forward to as a family.
“The plan was to move Fatoumatta and the kids to America so we could all live together. We had an interview booked for 29 November and that would have been the final interview before we would hopefully have secured their visas.
“That’s not going to happen now and I can’t understand why.”
Aboubacarr revealed the moment he learnt of the death of his wife and two young daughters. He said: “It was 5am when I got the call. I was praying and afterwards I saw I had missed five calls from the children’s grandmother.
“I called back and she started crying. She said there had been a fire and the kids didn’t make it and that Fatoumatta was in the intensive care unit.
“I just went straight to the airport and flew back alone to the UK. I’ve done that journey so many times but all the other times it’s been exciting because I was going to see my family. This time around… I still can’t recall it. It’s just a blur.”
He described his wife as a gentle person who was kind to everyone she met.
“Fatoumatta was a very faithful person,” Aboubacarr said. “She was a Muslim and she truly believed in her faith. She was caring and very compassionate. She’d help whoever she could.
“She loved the kids. They did a lot of baking together and fun things in the house. They would make cookies and cupcakes and loved putting the icing on the cakes.
“We also really enjoyed vacations. We’ve been to places like Edinburgh, Plymouth and The Gambia, where we’re both from.
“We just wanted to bring the kids up to be role models and good citizens. We wanted to move to the US but regardless of where we are in the world the most important thing to us was to give them a better life and a good education.”
