Mum who lost three kids in house blaze made homeless

LONDON: A British-Pakistani mother who lost her three children in a house blaze in July has been made homeless by her own relatives.

Naumana Gul Khan said she was kicked out of the house in which she was temporarily staying after her own house was declared as unsafe following the fire that claimed lives of her three children.

Her three children who perished in a house fire in East London’s East Ham area, Napier Road, were named as Muhammad Hanan Malik, seven, his 11-year-old sister Aayat and brother Nakash Malik, 13.

At the time of the tragedy, the parents paid tribute to them, saying they were “loved beyond words and missed beyond measure”.

Their parents said: “Your lives were a blessing, your memory a treasure. You are loved beyond words and missed beyond measure. May you rest in peace in God’s heaven.”

The fire damaged the ground floor and half of the first floor of the terrace house on Napier Road.

Naumana stayed in the hospital in induced coma for nearly a month and found out her three kids had died when she came to sense. “I was told that my children are in heaven playing.”

She told Geo News she woke up that tragic night to see smoke rising in the room. Within seconds, the fire had engulfed the whole house. She tried to battle the fire to save her kids but came close to dying and escaped through the sliding window. Her eldest child escaped to the loft and survived.

After she was discharged from the hospital, Naumana stayed with her brother out of London but has been visiting her husband who has been putting up in a tiny flat near Napier Road with his family.

After the deaths, her husband Khurram Malik shifted with his sisters on a road nearby where he has been living ever since, sharing room with his sisters.

Naumana says she lived for nearly two months with her brother out of London where she was treated by the mental health team to recover but she has felt she needed to be with her surviving son while her husband makes arrangements for them to find a place to live together.

Naumana told Geo News she came two days ago to be with her son, who suffers from fits and emotions, following the tragedy but her relatives threw out her belongings and asked her to leave the house.

“I am now homeless and have nowhere to go. This is not how a grieving mum should be treated. This is cruel. I understand that there is housing crisis but the way I was thrown out is unacceptable. I appeal to the local council and the authorities to help me,” she told Geo News.

Her relatives refused to comment on the allegations, over the phone and also during the visit to the home.

A source close to Naumana’s in-laws said that that they don’t have enough space to accommodate the whole family and that’s the reason why Naumana was asked to continue living out of London till a place is found. However, Naumana says she doesn’t afford staying away as she needs to be close to her son who needs her attention round the clock.