My boy’s in there! Scream of mother who leaped from arson death home
THE father of a sevenyear-old boy killed in an arson attack spoke of his agony yesterday as police launched a murder probe.
Joel Urhie died after flames tore through the family home just before 3.30am yesterday as he and his family slept.
His mother Sophie and sister Sarah escaped by jumping from a first-floor window.
Mrs Urhie screamed: “My son's in there!” and Joel's sister desperately cried out his name as the house became a fireball, witnesses said.
Joel had dreamed of becoming a firefighter, his family said.
Terrible
His father John, 54, said: “It's terrible, the pain, we can never forget.
“He was a very lovely boy who was just loving life. He played with everyone around here.”
Mr Urhie rushed to the family's home in Deptford, south-east London, after the fire broke out.
He said: “The first thing I saw was my daughter inside the ambulance. They said, ‘Joel's dead' – and there's nothing I can do about it.
“Joel used to play football. He was doing very well with it. He was very intelligent. It's a painful situation.”
Joel's brother Sam, 21, rushed to the scene in Adolphus Street and tried to get into the burning building, but police refused to let him through. A witness said: “He wasn't saying anything in the car except, ‘Why? Why? Why?'.”
Joel's cousin Sylvia MacNamara said: “He was a sweet boy. He was so jolly. I can't believe it, I'm in shock. It doesn't make any sense what's happened. I don't know anyone who would want to hurt them.”
Close family friend Grace Gbenedio, 56, said her daughter saw Sophie and Sarah jump from the window. She said: “We went outside and saw them on the ground. Sophie was screaming, ‘My boy is in there, he's still in the house!'. Sarah was crying. I just held her.
“The fire was just too much, like a curtain, no one could go in or out.
“I said, ‘Where, where, where?'. Sophie said, ‘That room'. We heard the last blast of the glass and she just collapsed.”
Detective Superintendent Jane Corrigan of Lewisham police said: “An innocent seven-year-old boy lost his life in what should have been the safest place for him, his home.
“We're treating this as a murder investigation. We believe the fire was started deliberately. We have no idea what the motive for this attack was.”
A London Fire Brigade spokesman said: “Sadly, a seven-year-old boy was found deceased inside the property.”