THREE young children and a woman have died in a house fire this morning (October 15).

Police and firefighters were called to a house in Barn Mead, Harlow around 1.40pm. Fire crews rescued the occupants of the house and put them in the care of the ambulance service but they sadly died. Two other people were conveyed to hospital, one in a critical condition.

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service assistant divisional officer Steve Foster, incident commander, said: “Crews arriving at the scene did everything they could - they were faced with a rapidly developed fire and went straight into the burning building wearing breathing apparatus to bring people out as quickly as possible.

“Once casualties were out, they worked alongside Ambulance teams to do all they could. Fire investigation teams are now working with Police to establish how this tragedy happened and our thoughts are with those the family left behind.”

Firefighters are asking anyone who was in the area of Barn Mead in the early hours of Monday and has any information, to contact police at Harlow Police Station on 101.