Tributes left for children killed in Werribee house fire, family left with ‘unbearable pain’

The four children who died after becoming trapped inside a burning Melbourne home have been pictured for the first time.

Police remove items from the scene. Picture: David Crosling

Tributes have been laid for the four small children, including a one-year-old girl, who were killed in a horrific Melbourne blaze.

Victoria Police described the tragedy as a “terrible set of circumstances”, which claimed the lives of two boys, 10-year-old Musrah Osman and three-year-old Nadeer, as well as two girls Icen and Ileen who were aged six and one respectively.

“Unfortunately, four children were found deceased inside that premises,” Detective Senior Sergeant Ashley Ryan said.

The children’s parents Najm and Khadjah and an eight-year-old managed escape the fire in Werribee, which police said started at about 1am.

Musrah, aged 10

Icen, aged 6

Nadeer, aged 3, but pictured as a baby photo

Ileen, aged 1

Since the tragedy, flowers, teddy bears and notes that read: “Beautiful soul, you’ll never be forgotten”, “fly high little angels” and “deepest love” have been laid at the scene.

A GoFundMe page aiming to raise $200,000 has also been established to help support the remaining family members and cover funeral costs

So far more than $169,500 has been raised.

“This has caused a tremendous amount of emotional and psychological distress on the family,” the page reads.

“The family, friends and communities of this beautiful family are also extremely devastated and in complete agony by this sudden and unexplainable tragedy which has left many imploding with unbearable pain.”

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

Neighbours described to reporters the harrowing sound of parents screaming that their children were inside the house as the fire raged.

“It was like the whole house is a bonfire sort of thing,” one neighbour told ABC News.

“The whole house was on fire, the roof was collapsing, there was collapsing noises.

“The parents were shouting, not able to go in.”

CFA Commander David Clancy told reporters the blaze was “very tragic” and had extended through the house on Mantello Drive by the time fire crews arrived.

“Firefighters had a fairly arduous task to try to undertake the fire fight and were unable to conduct an internal attack due to the heat of the fire,” he said.

“Four young children perished in the fire.”

Police are briefed at the scene Picture: David Crosling

A lieutenant from the Werribee Fire Brigade, Damien Molloy, said the roof of the home had collapsed by the time crews arrived, and they had no chance to control it given the intensity of the blaze.

“The distress of the parents and the eight year old it was very difficult to get accurate information early on to be able to focus our search areas initially externally and then internally,” he told reporters.

The roof collapsed by the time fire crews arrived. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Luis Enrique Ascui

Arson detectives are examining what unfolded. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Luis Enrique Ascui

The father of the family, 45, was rushed to hospital with serious smoke-related injuries, while the mother, 38, and an eight-year-old were also in hospital being treated for smoke inhalation and a minor injury, respectively.

The exact cause of the blaze is not yet known with arson and explosive detectives still examining the scene.

The cause of the blaze is being probed. Picture: David Crosling

Emergency services address the media. Picture: David Crosling