A devastated man had to be held back by police officers to stop him from rushing into a house fire where his wife and 12 year old daughter were trapped.
According to horrified eyewitnesses, the man’s older daughter had been desperately screaming for help as a fire broke out at her home in Braintree, Essex, in the middle of the night.
Two women, who are understood to be Rafal Kordaszewska’s mother in law and his oldest daughter managed to flee the blaze and were taken to hospital suffering from the effects of smoke inhalation.
The victims of the house fire have not been officially named, but are understood to be Alina Kordaszewska, 41, and her 12-year-old daughter Emilia Kordaszewska. Teenage daughter Milena is understood to have escaped, along with Alicja Kordaszewska-Tom, 63.
Held back
The fire broke out in South Street, which is just a few hundred yards away from the fire station, but fire fighters did not arrive in time to save the mother and daughter. Mr Kordaszewska desperately tried to get back into his home, but police officers held him back, clearly believed that his loved ones were already lost and that he was risking his own life.
His elder daughter is understood to have been home from university for the Christmas holidays, while his mother in law was over from Poland. Chris Bibbey, who lives just a few houses away said: “We saw the women outside screaming, it was a very haunting scream, they were shouting and screaming.”
Meanwhile, a neighbour described how they had comforting the older girl, who was in her pyjamas, and who was screaming why weren’t the fire brigade coming. As daylight broke, the full devastation of the blaze could be seen. The fire appeared to have mainly affected the upper floor and scorch marks could be seen on the brickwork, as well as on a santa decoration, which still remained on the outside of the home.
