Firefighters and London police announced the death of four children on Thursday evening in a house fire in the southern outskirts of the British capital.
For now, the origin of the disaster, which occurred in Sutton, is
"unknown"
and
"will be investigated,"
Rob Sheperd, an official at Scotland Yard, said in a statement.
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According to the firefighters, the first teams to arrive on site found themselves facing an
"intense fire"
spread to the entire ground floor of the building. Firefighters equipped with devices to breathe in these extreme conditions entered the house from which they were able to extract the four children. First treated on the spot then transported to two hospitals in south London, they were declared dead there, according to the police who believe that the children are from the same family and said they had not made any arrests.
About sixty firefighters and eight devices were mobilized to deal with the disaster, of which they were notified shortly before 7 p.m. (local and GMT).
One of the fire officials, Andy Roe, expressed his
"deep sadness"
and addressed his thoughts to the children's relatives.