Authorities in the Australian state of New South Wales said a mother and her six-year-old child died in a house fire in Sydney’s south-west on Wednesday morning.
NSW Police disclosed in a statement that Emergency services were called to the single storey house in Heckenberg at 12:40 a.m. on Wednesday to contain what it called a well-advanced fire and flames flaring out of the windows.
Firefighters revealed that eight people had managed to escape before emergency services got to the scene, adding that in spite of their best efforts, they were unable to enter the property due to the extreme fire conditions.
It further revealed that once firefighters knocked down the fire, they tragically located the bodies of a 46-year-old woman and the six-year-old child.
NSW Police said that a two-year-old girl and a 50-year-old man were in hospital, both in critical condition. Another 14-year-old girl was also taken to hospital.
The fire brigade spoke of one man and two children sustaining serious injuries. A two-year-old boy, a seven-year-old girl, a 36-year-old man and two women aged 37 and 51 were checked at the scene by paramedics, police said.
Firefighters said it took an hour and a half to completely extinguish the fire, “the home has been completely destroyed.’’
An inquiry has been initiated to determine how the fire started and whether there was a working smoke alarm in the home.
