Blaze kills twin boys

Twin boys died in a house blaze after clothes drying in front of a gas heater caught fire.

Ayan Khan and his brother Afeen, who were 22 months old, were asleep in an upstairs bedroom when fire took hold of the family home.

Their mother, Mona Khan, was the only other person in the house at the time. She watched helplessly and had to be restrained as the blaze swept through her three-bedroom house in Ilford within minutes.

Mrs Khan, believed to be in her late thirties, had been on the ground floor when fire spread from the living room. Flames and heavy smoke meant she was unable to climb the stairs to reach the children.

Neighbours described the scenes of panic as Mrs Khan ran barefoot into the street screaming: "Please help - my babies, my babies."

Neighbour Oni Bhat --tacharya, 45, a television producer, said: "When I saw flames and smoke I went over to the house and my son dialled 999. Mrs Khan was hysterical. She was screaming for somebody to save her babies. I ran to the house with her but there was pitch black smoke and there was an explosion so

I realised that nobody could go in - it was too dangerous. She was screaming and we had to stop her from going inside."

The children's great-uncle, Nazar Malik, 65, from Birmingham, told how the twins were born after their mother, desperate for children after eight years of trying in vain, turned to IVF treatment.

Police are investigating the cause of the blaze, which took place around 2pm on Tuesday afternoon but it is not believed to be suspicious.

Mr Malik, who is comforting the twins' parents at another family member's home in Leyton, said Mrs Khan and her husband Sajid were heartbroken.

"They have both suffered a terrible shock and are under terrible stress," he said. "My nephew Sajid has not been able to speak or eat since the accident but he has been seen by a doctor who has given him something to help him relax. Mona is beginning to relax a little bit more now. They have been married for 10 years. They tried to have a baby for eight years before specialist treatment brought them the twins which makes it even more heartbreaking for them."

Describing the twins, he said: "They were lively and friendly - very jolly fellows. They were just beginning to speak a little, just 'Mum' and 'Dad', and they were walking. They were smiley babies, who liked kicking a football around and playing with their toys. They were lovely."

Another of the twin's greatuncles, Mohammed Iqbal, 54, a shopkeeper from Elephant and Castle, said: "Mona and Sajid are devastated. This is an awful time for us all."

Firemen wearing breathing apparatus entered the house in Castleview Gardens and emerged moments later with the boys. Mr Khan, who is also in his late thirties, arrived home at that moment to find firefighters attempting to resuscitate the children by administering oxygen.

Neighbour Sylvia Sklayne, 70, said: "I wept as a fireman brought out these babies in their arms. He put them on the ground and gave them resuscitation, putting his oxygen.mask over their faces until the ambulances came." The children were taken to King George's Hospital, Goodmayes, where they were later pronounced dead.

A neighbour and friend, who did not wish to be named, said: "They were such a lovely family and we are all thinking of them. They adored their children."

The family, originally from Pakistan, have rented their house for about two years. Mrs Khan received IVF treatment at Guy's Hospital.