HEARTS BREAK
Devastation over deaths of toddler sisters Sana and Saba Grieving parents came here from Afghanistan for a safe life to raise a family Toy on bar heater believed to be cause of tragic fire
GEELONG is reeling after three-year-old Sana Qorbani and her two-year-old sister Saba died in a tragic house fire yesterday.
Their infant sister survived, and was comforted by her grief-stricken parents Hashem Qorbani and his wife at Geelong hospital.
GEELONG is in shock after three-year-old Sana Qorbani and her two-year-old sister Saba died in a tragic house fire early yesterday.
Their six-month-old sister survived, and was comforted by her grief-stricken parents Hashem Qorbani and his wife at Geelong hospital.
Mr and Mrs Qorbani left Afghanistan for a better life, arriving in Geelong in 2015.
They are a much-loved part of the local Afghani community, which has rallied around the devastated family.
The distraught parents spent much of yesterday at the hospital by the side of their surviving daughter, as community leaders sought to comfort them and relieve them of the grim task of organising the two infants’ funerals.
It’s understood Mr Qorbani owns Moorabool St shop My Kebabs.
Prominent Geelong Afghani leader Moshtagh Heidari said the tragedy had hit hard.
“The fire has not just devastated the family, it has devastated the entire community,” Mr Heidari said. “We are doing what we can to offer different supports.”
The sisters have been remembered as bright, bubbly young girls who loved playing in the front yard.
Neighbours paid tribute to their short lives, placing floral tributes outside the family’s home.
It is understood Mr and Mrs Qorbani were asleep when they woke to find smoke coming from the front room of their home in Loch St, East Geelong.
They rushed to the room to find Sana and Saba unresponsive.
They rushed the girls to Geelong hospital about 8am, where they later died.
The couple’s infant daughter had been asleep in their room, and was unaffected by the smoke.
Detectives and fire investigators were at the scene of the tragedy for hours yesterday, leaving about 2pm.
Geelong CIU Detective Senior Sergeant Mark Guthrie said responding emergency services were devastated by the incident.
“A tragic set of circumstances has occurred,” Sen-Sgt Guthrie said at the scene.
Police believe the girls’ parents turned on the electric bar heater at about 5am.
“Some time after that, a toy is believed to have fallen on the heater and started to melt,” Sen- Sgt Guthrie said. “It looks like some sort of toy has fallen on a bar heater that was in the room and caused the smoke to billow into the room
“(The smoke) was noticed at 8am and the heater was turned on at some stage in the morning.
“We are not sure at this stage how long the fire has been smouldering in the room.”
Neighbour Greg Allerton, who lives a few doors down, said he only heard of the fatal fire when he saw it on the news.
“It’s just a silent tragedy,” Mr Allerton said.
“The family must be absolutely heartbroken.”
He said the scene of the tragedy was eerily quiet. “When you hear about house fires, you think of a great big fire, but this was silent.”
Another neighbour, Craig Meek, said he waved to the family daily but did not know them by name.
“We would always say hello,” Mr Meek said.
“The children were quite young — there were often toys in the front yard.”
The exact cause of the fire is yet to be established.