Hero father ran into a burning bedroom to try and save his three-year-old son after a house fire engulfed their home, inquest told
A hero father ran into a burning bedroom to try and save his three-year-old son after a house fire engulfed their home, an inquest heard today.
A hero father ran into a burning bedroom to try and save his three-year-old son after a house fire engulfed their home, an inquest heard today.
Naemat Esmael, 51, had been having a shower when the fire broke out in the bedroom where son Muhammad was sleeping.
An inquest heard Naemat ran head on into the flames to try and save Muhammad before being forced to jump from an upstairs window.
Muhammad, who loved Peppa Pig and Paw Patrol, was tragically found dead in the house in Swansea, South Wales, and his father died in hospital two days later.
Giving a narrative conclusion, Assistant Coroner Kirsten Heaven said wife Sharmeen Ahmed, 40, saw the fire emerging and raised the alarm but did not know her son was asleep in there.
She said: The door to the room was closed, Mrs Ahmed shouted to alert Naemet and her daughter and her daughter ran out of the property.
Naemat came straight out of the shower and ran into the bedroom where Muhammad was located and the door banged shut behind him.
Naemat was unable to save Muhammad and was forced to jump out of the bedroom window. Tragically both Naemat and Muhammad died because of the fire.
Hero father Naemat Esmael, 51, ran into a burning bedroom to try and save his three-year-old son after a house fire engulfed their home
Muhammad, three, who loved Peppa Pig and Paw Patrol, was tragically found dead in the house in Swansea, South Wales
Ms Heaven said the two hard-wired smoke alarms in the house either did not go off because the bedroom door was closed or that the electric circuit to the house had tripped and their batteries were too low.
An inquest heard the investigators couldnt determine the exact cause of the fire, but on the balance of probabilities it began in a cabinet drawer which housed an extension lead with plugs for a TV and Playstation.
Ms Heaven said: There was no evidence of any electrical fault by any of these items.
However I do find that the fire probably started in or around the console unit and was probably electrical in origin because there is also no other explanation for the fire.
The coroner said that the thud Ms Ahmed had heard was most likely a switch tripping to cut the power supply.
She added: I am unable to determine the precise electrical fault which caused the fire.
The inquest heard Naemat, who worked as a builder, had rewired a light switch in a downstairs room in the council-owned house despite not being qualified to do so.
Wife Sharmeen, said he had never done any electrical work in the upstairs of the property where the fire began despite some evidence of unauthorised work.
An inquest heard the investigators couldnt determine the exact cause of the fire, but on the balance of probabilities it began in a cabinet drawer which housed an extension lead with plugs for a TV and Playstation
Widow Sharmeen told the hearing she would have preferred to die herself than to lose her toddler son and her husband in the devastating blaze.
She said: I thought and was expecting that Naemat would get into the room to grab Muhammad to come outside.
If I had known this incident would have happened I would have gone there myself first.
It would have been much easier for me to lose my life there... than to go through all this sorrow.
The inquest heard Sharmeen tried to re-enter the property, but was stopped by neighbours.
Her daughter escaped the blaze, but suffered smoke inhalation and their other son was not home at the time of the fire in July last year.
Mrs Ahmed said seeing the tears of her surviving children every single night was too much to bear.
I always go through sorrow every single day, she said.
When I go to town centre to see things that Muhammed used to enjoy or like or to see a mother holding their sons hand - all to me this is another death. I am living a death every single day experiencing this.
The inquest heard father Naemat suffered 81 per cent burns to his body along with multiple organ failure and severe inhalation injuries.
Son Muhammad died from exposure to the flames and objects burning around him in the house.
Ms Heaven said she would write to the Welsh Government and Mid and West Wales Fire Service over the inadequacy of fire alarms being fitted in communal areas.
She said that sprinkler systems despite being very expensive were far more effective.
Ms Heaven added: I am concerned that only mandating two smoke alarms in rented accommodation means there is a continuing risk to life from fire.
