Child dies and five seriously injured in fire that engulfed east London home

'This is a terribly sad incident.'

A child has died in a house fire in east London that seriously injured five others this morning.

The blaze erupted on the ground and first floor of a terraced house on Napier Road, East Ham, at around 8.30am.

The child was ‘found deceased inside the property’, the police said.

No details on the child’s name, age or gender have been provided.

Five others were taken to a major trauma centre as a ‘priority’, the ambulance service confirmed. Their condition is unclear.

With 40 firefighters at the scene, the inferno was under control by 9.09am, fire officials said. Police say Napier Road remains closed.

The cause of the fire is unknown, the fire brigade said in an incident report.

‘This is a terribly sad incident and the thoughts of all of us at London Fire Brigade are with the family, friends and all those affected at this difficult time,’ said Assistant Commissioner Patrick Goulbourne.

‘Staff will be in the local community over the coming days to offer support and advice where needed.

‘The welfare of our staff is very important and all those involved will be offered support from our counselling and trauma service.’

Mayor of Newham the borough where East Ham is in, Rokhsana Fiaz thanked the ‘rapid response’ by firefighters on X.

‘Praying for the safety of residents impacted,’ she said,

This is a developing news story, more to follow soon… Check back shortly for further updates.

Got a story? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. Or you can submit your videos and pictures here.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

Follow Metro.co.uk on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news updates. You can now also get Metro.co.uk articles sent straight to your device. Sign up for our daily push alerts here.