24/04/2007 16:00:00
UK: Burned to death in cannabis inferno
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A man has died in a house fire in New Malden. Police say the property
was being used as a cannabis factory and neighbours described the terror
they felt as the "horrendous inferno" took hold.
The massive fire happened just after 9pm on Friday at the house in Van
Dyck Avenue, and gutted the 1930s chalet-style, three-bedroom property.
The intense heat prevented the 20 firefighters from getting inside the
house until it was too late to save the man. He died later in Kingston
Hospital with burns to 100 per cent of his body.
Police said three women of oriental appearance and two children were
seen running from the house. They have identified the victim but will
not release details until his next of kin have been informed.
An oriental man was also seen leaving the house at about the same time.
Shaken neighbours, who did not want to give their names, said they
called the fire brigade after their young son ran downstairs screaming
that there was a fire.
Within minutes the house next door to their's was engulfed in flames.
One of these neighbours said: "It was just incomprehensible. There were
flames coming out of every part and it was just a ball of flame. It
wasn't a fire, it was an inferno."
Her husband went out to the burning house looking for anyone trapped. He
said: "As I arrived a woman came out with a charred face covering
herself with a duvet. She was saying something that sounded like child'.
I thought there was a child stuck in there. I was just a blank. I
thought I had to get in and get them."
Neighbour tried to rescue victims
As his wife, son and nine-year-old daughter panicked, he took a fire
extinguisher and went around the house looking for a way in, helped by
another man who had arrived.
He said: "The heat was just so strong. As I went round the back, a side
window blew out with this yellow gas and I ended up on the ground."
When he recovered, he aimed the fire extinguisher at doors and windows,
the fire was too strong for it to have any effect. He said: "I could
hear these voices on the inside above me, and there was just nothing I
could do."
His wife said: "My daughter was just screaming, telling him not to go in
there, and scared the fire would spread. She is still very upset. It has
totally shocked everyone in the family. I can't eat or sleep."
Four fire engines attended the fire and it was under control by 10.25pm.
New Malden fire station manager Neil Sinclair said firefighters had done
well to stop the blaze from spreading, and warned people never to
attempt to enter burning buildings.
A Met police spokeswoman said police found a large amount of evidence to
suggest that cannabis was being grown at the house.
This is the third cannibis factory found in New Malden in recent months.
On December 20 last year, more than 100 plants were found in a house in
Malden Road and on January 1 more than 300 plants were found in Montem
Road. Police chiefs said the operatives behind several cannabis
factories in New Malden and Surbiton raided by police over the past year
have been Vietnamese.
http://www.wimbledonguardian.co.uk/
Source:
http://www.ukcia.org/news/shownewsarticle.php?articleid=12483
Author:
Wimbledon Guardian via UKCIA
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