Harlow fire: Private CCTV could hold the key

Detectives investigating a fatal house fire in which a man lost his wife and five children are asking for help from people in the area who have private CCTV cameras.

Dr Abdul Shakoor’s wife Sabah Usmani and their children died after a fire at their home in Barn Mead, Harlow in the early hours of Monday, October 15, 2012.

Emergency services fought to save the family but Sabah, her daughter Hira, 12, and sons Sohaib, 11, and Muneeb, 9 and Rayyan, 6 died that day. Daughter Maheen, 3, died later in hospital.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation. Essex Police is working closely with Essex Fire and Rescue service and independent scientists but have so far been unable to identify the cause of the fire.