A young family, with a three-week-old baby, are facing up to the heartbreaking reality of 'starting life from zero' after a huge warehouse fire.
Khatera and Esmat Husseini have been in temporary accommodation with their children for four months, living in two hotels, as well as homes in Newton Heath and Oldham.
During that time, the family kept their belongings at the Armadillo Self Storage site at Stanley Green, which was hit by a 'deliberate' fire in the early hours of Saturday morning (February 26).
Now, Khatera says the family have lost 'everything' - from furniture and clothes which can be replaced, to the treasured photographs and memories which are now lost forever.
She told the Manchester Evening News : "Now we have to start from zero. We have nothing.
"I can buy furniture and things like that. I can buy it new or second hand, I don't mind.
"But most things I can't replace. That's the thing that is destroying me - but I can't do anything."
Khatera moved to the UK from Afghanistan six years ago, where Esmat was already living.
The couple settled in Wythenshawe and had two sons - five-year-old Oscar and 17-month-old Osiris.
They became homeless last October when they left their rented home, while Khatera was pregnant, as their home had become 'unsafe' and the rent had begun to escalate.
The family were moved by Manchester City Council to a hotel for six weeks, before being found a property in Newton Heath.
But Khatera says the family were not given a guarantee for how long they could keep the property - and with Oscar attending Benchill Primary School, Esmat's job in Cheadle and Khatera's in Wythenshawe, the situation was far from ideal.
Khatera, 31, said: "I was pregnant, taking my eldest son to school every day, leaving home at 6.30am to get the bus. It was really hard."
Khatera says that after turning down the Newton Heath home, the family were told to leave and were moved on to a second hotel for a month, before being found another house in Oldham where they are currently staying.
Since becoming homeless last October, the family were moved to a hotel for six weeks before being found accommodation in Newton Heath.
They were moved to a hotel again in January, before finding new temporary accommodation in Oldham earlier this month, on the same day the couple's third son - Octavis - was born.
Khatera says the family began taking items from the Armadillo site when they moved to Newton Heath, but returned them when they left, and the items have remained there since.
She said: "We kept everything there. There isn't enough space if we bring all our stuff here, there would be no room for my kids to sleep.
"We had clothes in there, my husband's uniform for work, my son's school uniform. Whatever we needed, we would just pick it up and bring it here."
Around 130 firefighters battled the blaze at the Armadillo site at its peak yesterday, after crews were called out at 1am.
The site's owners told the M.E.N. that 'most contents' have been destroyed in the devastating fire, which Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service is treating as 'deliberate'.
Those items include belongings stored by Khatera's family - including a sofa, a fridge and a laptop, as well as photographs from Afghanistan and clothes.
"We lost everything on Saturday," said Khatera.
"We were up all night, we couldn't sleep. If you lose everything it's really hard and I still can't cope with it now.
"I came here to have a good life in the UK. Now everything has turned upside down."
The family are currently trying to move back nearer to Wythenshawe, with their case due to be heard in court.
They are one of many families and business owners who used the Armadillo facility, that were told on Saturday not to visit the building for safety reasons, and Khatera says she is now waiting for further information from its owners.
In a statement issued on Saturday, a spokesperson for The Big Yellow Family Self-Storage group said: "At this stage, the cause of the fire is not known but we now understand there has been significant destruction to the building and most contents.
"We will provide updates once we know more. Customers should not attempt to visit the store.
"We sincerely apologise to all customers affected and will be contacting them directly with regular updates as soon as we can.
"We know this will be a difficult time for all our customers and that some of the possessions stored with us can never be replaced, which is why we are so distressed this incident occurred.
"We will work with insurers to manage our customers’ contents claims as quickly as possible."
Councillor Luthfur Rahman, OBE, deputy leader of Manchester City Council said: "This is an incredibly difficult time for the family and my heartfelt sympathy goes out to them as result of this situation that they are in.
"We have been working with the family since they presented to the Council as homeless in the Autumn.
"Although they were offered accommodation, following a review it was determined that the property wasn't affordable for them in their current situation.
"We are working hard to find them suitable accommodation and make them a further offer but unfortunately due to the high rents in the private sector and pressure on the system, we cannot guarantee that we can place families in the areas that they want to live in, and any additional offer may be within the Greater Manchester boundary."
