FOUR of Dr Abdul Shakoor's five children died as a result of the blaze while one daughter, Maheen, is still fighting for her life in hospital.
A DAD listened helplessly to the screams of his dying wife and children after an arson attack on their home yesterday.
Dr Abdul Shakoor had to be held back by neighbours as he pleaded: “My children are in there, you have to let me back in.”
His doctor wife Sabah Usmani, their sons Sohaib, 11, Rayan, six, and Muneeb, nine, and 12-year-old daughter Hira, perished.
Muneeb died in hospital after being rescued by fire crews with three-year-old sister Maheen. She was fighting for her life last night.
Abdul could only listen to the sound of “horrible screaming” from inside the house as he stood outside on the road.
Minutes before, two men saved him from certain death as he tried to force his way into the inferno to rescue his family in Harlow, Essex.
One neighbour said: “Some neighbours were trying to hold back the dad. He was screaming. He just kept shouting, ‘My children are in there, let me back in’. I think he had jumped out the window then tried to get back in through the door.”
Police said Abdul “fought hard to save his family in appalling conditions” as he tried to get to his children in an upstairs bedroom.
Neighbour Amanda Chadwick, 34, awoke to the sound of “horrible screaming”.
She said: “I woke up early this morning to the sound of a woman screaming, ‘Help’.”
Abdul was last night in severe shock and being treated for smoke inhalation at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, where he works.
The family arrived from Pakistan in 2009. It is thought they were asleep when the blaze broke out at 1.45am and spread quickly, trapping them upstairs in their three-bedroom, semi-detached house.
Their neighbours’ car was found burnt out 50 yards away. Witnesses suggested between one and four people were in the area at the time.
Essex police said there was no evidence the attack was racially motivated.
Family friend Parvez Hamid, 43, said: “They were the model family.Abdul is a doctor and very academic.
“He is very heroic – he and his wife adored their children and would do anything for them.”
Dr Abdul Shakoor had to be held back by neighbours as he pleaded: “My children are in there, you have to let me back in.”
His doctor wife Sabah Usmani, their sons Sohaib, 11, Rayan, six, and Muneeb, nine, and 12-year-old daughter Hira, perished.
Muneeb died in hospital after being rescued by fire crews with three-year-old sister Maheen. She was fighting for her life last night.
Abdul could only listen to the sound of “horrible screaming” from inside the house as he stood outside on the road.
Minutes before, two men saved him from certain death as he tried to force his way into the inferno to rescue his family in Harlow, Essex.
One neighbour said: “Some neighbours were trying to hold back the dad. He was screaming. He just kept shouting, ‘My children are in there, let me back in’. I think he had jumped out the window then tried to get back in through the door.”
Police said Abdul “fought hard to save his family in appalling conditions” as he tried to get to his children in an upstairs bedroom.
Neighbour Amanda Chadwick, 34, awoke to the sound of “horrible screaming”.
She said: “I woke up early this morning to the sound of a woman screaming, ‘Help’.”
Abdul was last night in severe shock and being treated for smoke inhalation at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, where he works.
The family arrived from Pakistan in 2009. It is thought they were asleep when the blaze broke out at 1.45am and spread quickly, trapping them upstairs in their three-bedroom, semi-detached house.
Their neighbours’ car was found burnt out 50 yards away. Witnesses suggested between one and four people were in the area at the time.
Essex police said there was no evidence the attack was racially motivated.
Family friend Parvez Hamid, 43, said: “They were the model family.Abdul is a doctor and very academic.
“He is very heroic – he and his wife adored their children and would do anything for them.”
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