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| Version 3 | Version 4 |
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| Harlow fire deaths: Shakoor family burgled before blaze | Harlow fire deaths: Shakoor family burgled before blaze |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Police say a house in which a mother and her five children died in a fire had been burgled on the same night. | Police say a house in which a mother and her five children died in a fire had been burgled on the same night. |
| Dr Sabah Usmani, her sons Sohaib, 11, and Rayyan, six, and daughter Hira, 12, died on 15 October in Harlow. A third son, Muneeb, nine, and daughter Maheen, three, died later in hospital. | Dr Sabah Usmani, her sons Sohaib, 11, and Rayyan, six, and daughter Hira, 12, died on 15 October in Harlow. A third son, Muneeb, nine, and daughter Maheen, three, died later in hospital. |
| Dr Usmani's husband, Dr Abdul Shakoor, was the only survivor. | Dr Usmani's husband, Dr Abdul Shakoor, was the only survivor. |
| He had gone outside in the hope of catching his wife and children from a first-floor window. | He had gone outside in the hope of catching his wife and children from a first-floor window. |
| Essex Police said although it was unable to say if the fire was started by the burglar, the break-in and two further unsuccessful burglaries within a mile-and-a-half of Barn Mead after the fire could be linked. | |
| Dr Shakoor, a registrar at Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, said: "I ask from my heart that anyone with information comes forward to help, so that I may understand the tragedy that has befallen my beautiful family. | Dr Shakoor, a registrar at Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, said: "I ask from my heart that anyone with information comes forward to help, so that I may understand the tragedy that has befallen my beautiful family. |
| "I am looking to the community once again for help in providing answers to the many questions that remain. I do not understand why my little children who were so happy and full of life, who had so much to live for, are no longer here." | "I am looking to the community once again for help in providing answers to the many questions that remain. I do not understand why my little children who were so happy and full of life, who had so much to live for, are no longer here." |
| Laptop bag | Laptop bag |
| Det Supt Rob Vinson said: "We believe that this burglary took place after the family had gone to bed and before the fire was discovered. | Det Supt Rob Vinson said: "We believe that this burglary took place after the family had gone to bed and before the fire was discovered. |
| "Our inquiries have revealed that in Harlow during the same evening/early morning there were two other unsuccessful attempts to break in to other properties and one where entry was gained but the suspect was disturbed and nothing was taken. | "Our inquiries have revealed that in Harlow during the same evening/early morning there were two other unsuccessful attempts to break in to other properties and one where entry was gained but the suspect was disturbed and nothing was taken. |
| "How these incidents relate to the current investigation is ongoing." | "How these incidents relate to the current investigation is ongoing." |
| He said a laptop bag containing personal papers and a two-pin laptop lead was found abandoned near lock-up garages in Whitewaits, Harlow, on 26 October. | He said a laptop bag containing personal papers and a two-pin laptop lead was found abandoned near lock-up garages in Whitewaits, Harlow, on 26 October. |
| Police have confirmed the items belong to Dr Shakoor. | Police have confirmed the items belong to Dr Shakoor. |
| Mr Vinson said two people were seen throwing the laptop bag away near garages. One was a teenage boy aged 15 or 16 years old in a tracksuit, the other a slim girl in a Burnt Mill School uniform. | |
| Police have urged the pair to come forward and say where they got the bag. | Police have urged the pair to come forward and say where they got the bag. |
| The force also wants to hear from anybody offered a Toshiba Satellite laptop computer after the fire. | The force also wants to hear from anybody offered a Toshiba Satellite laptop computer after the fire. |
| In a further appeal, officers want to speak to a group of young people aged between 16 and 19 years old seen in Barn Mead on the night of the fire. | In a further appeal, officers want to speak to a group of young people aged between 16 and 19 years old seen in Barn Mead on the night of the fire. |
| Mr Vinson said the group wore tracksuits and baseball caps and two were on bikes. | Mr Vinson said the group wore tracksuits and baseball caps and two were on bikes. |