UK: A devastating house fire that killed five children and their mother is believed to have been caused by a freezer, the fire service said today.

Muna Elmufatish, 41, daughters Hanin Kua, 14, Basma, 13, Amal, nine, and brothers Mustafa, five, and Yehya, two, died after their London home was engulfed in flames in the early hours of Saturday.

London Fire Brigade said the family’s chest freezer, which was stored in the hallway at the bottom of the stairs, was most likely to have started the blaze, which became the capital’s worst house fire in more than a decade.

It came as an inquest was opened and adjourned into the deaths today.