MY BABIES
Keegan, Tilly, Olly, Jack and Riley A MUM screamed “my babies, my babies” as she watched her four young children die in a house fire.
Natalie Unitt, 24, leaped from an upstairs window with her partner Chris Moulton, 28, and their two-year-old son Jack to escape the blaze.
But they could only look on in horror from the street as the four other youngsters perished in the devastating fireball.
The tragic siblings were named by police as Riley, eight, Keegan, six, Tilly, four, and three-year-old Olly.
One neighbour said: “I was in the bathroom and heard a woman outside shouting, ‘my babies, my babies’. Then I heard a huge bang.
“I went to look outside and saw a massive flash of fire come out of the upstairs window of the house.
“The kids were really happy little things, really friendly. It’s such a tragedy.”
Fire investigators were last night probing whether yesterday’s fire was caused by an exploding boiler.
Natalie and Chris, who moved into the house last year, remain in hospital suffering from burns and smoke inhalation. Locals said the couple jumped from their first-floor bedroom window when the fire broke out at around 2.40am.
Chris was clutching their youngest son Jack, who only celebrated his second birthday a fortnight ago.
Relatives said Natalie had been left broken by the deaths of her children.
Her cousin Sarah Pearce, 26, told the Mirror: “This will break her. She told me her kids were her world.
“She was born to be a mother. It’s all she wanted to do. That’s why she had so many.” Fire crews were called by worried neighbours, who heard “pops and bangs” coming from the house at 2.40am.
Neighbour Bryan Pickering added: “The flames were coming out that bad, there was nothing you could have done – even with a ladder.”
Another local, who did not want to be named, added: “The room at the back was completely full of flames.
“We just stood there with our hands over our mouths wondering what was going to happen next.
“A man and a woman got into an ambulance. They were in blankets and she had the little one in her arms.
“I’d assumed they had all got out. It’s terribly sad, almost beyond belief.”
The children’s distraught relatives visited the scene, in Stafford, yesterday and left floral tributes. news. Riley was a very Their grandad Colin Unitt confident, excitable wrote on a card: “To my member of school, who lovely grandkids. I will came every day full of always miss you. Love enthusiasm. you always xxx.” “He was a caring friend Another card read: who hated to see anyone “Will be dearly missed. hurt or upset and would Love Uncle Dave and do his best to help or Auntie Lou Lou.” cheer them up.
Tributes yesterday
On her Facebook page, “Riley had a great sense Natalie describes herself as a “proud of humour and an infectious giggle.” mummy” whose “life changed” when she She added: “Tilly was a happy little girl had children. Chris was father to three who loved coming to nursery. She was a of the dead children. Riley’s dad was friendly and caring child, who loved to Michael Holt, from Wolverhampton. read stories, dress up and paint.
Riley, Tilly and Olly all went to Castlechurch “Olly was a happy, loving boy who Primary School, half a mile from loved cuddles. He was always happy to the family home. Headteacher Nicola come to nursery...”
Glover said: “Our entire school community Keegan was a pupil at Marshlands is absolutely devastated by this School, whose head Kim Ellis described him as “lively, full of fun and mischief ”. Fire crews were damping down at the scene yesterday. Rob Barber, deputy chief fire officer, said it was too early to speculate on the likely cause of the blaze.
One local said: “We’ve heard it was a boiler on the upstairs landing that exploded, that’s why they couldn’t escape.” Chief Insp John Owen, of Staffordshire Police, described the blaze as “absolutely heartbreaking”. ■ A fire in an upmarket apartment block in Paris killed 10 people yesterday. A woman of 40 has been arrested on suspicion of arson.
The burnt-out house smouldering yesterday Chris Moulton & Natalie Unitt