Werribee promises to support Osman family after four children die in house fire

Mantello Drive, Werribee will forever be a memorial to four children whose deaths have united a community with inconsolable grief.

The Werribee community has been united with inconsolable grief after four children were tragically killed in a house fire.

Musrah Osman, 10, his brother Nadeer, 3, and sisters Icen, 6, and Ileen, 1, died in the horrific blaze in Melbourne’s west on Sunday morning.

The parents of the children and an eight-year-old managed to escape the fire in Werribee, which police said started about 1am.

Wyndham mayor Peter Maynard said council would do “absolutely everything it can” to support the Osman family.

“We’re devastated by this terrible tragedy and the city is working to provide support for the family,” he said.

“Council and the wider community feel this loss and we will do everything we can.”

The Osman family.

South Sudanese support organisation, Junubi Wyndham, will provide culturally-appropriate support for the family including counselling and emergency housing, according to Cr Maynard.

KIDS Foundation founder Susie O’Neill said her organisation, which supports children suffering from burns, would help the family once acute medical care had been provided.

“They’re going through a terrible, traumatic experience that very few people could understand,” she said.

“It’s so hard to imagine a future after an incident like this.”

Werribee MP Tim Pallas said the deaths were deeply distressing for the Werribee community.

“Our hearts go out to the family after this tragic incident and I express my deepest condolences to them for their heartbreaking loss,” he said.

“I thank all the emergency service personnel who have helped the family and the community over the past two days, and sincerely appreciate their incredible efforts.”

In less than a day, more than $130,000 has been raised by a GoFundMe set up by organiser Fathi Ahmed, who wrote the fire had caused a tremendous amount of emotional and psychological distress for the family.

“The family, friends and communities of the beautiful family are also extremely devastated and in complete agony by the sudden and unexplainable tragedy,” he said.

Donations will be used to cover the cost of funerals and “everything that was lost in the fire”, according to Mr Ahmed.

Mourners visited the property on Sunday night, saying prayers and holding a vigil for the four children.

Floral tributes have been left at the scene of a tragic house fire in Werribee which killed four children. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

On Monday, friends and community members attended the Mantello Drive address, laying flowers in tribute.

Parents Najm Al-Din and Khadjah Osman and eight-year-old son Ibrahim were rushed to the Alfred hospital where they remain in a stable condition.

Lifeline — 13 11 14.