This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The Metropolitan police have begun a murder investigation after a seven-year-old boy died in a house fire in south-east London.

Joel Urhie died in the blaze in Deptford early on Tuesday morning, the Met said, and detectives launched a murder inquiry after an arson attack that led to a “curtain” of flames tearing through the property as the boy slept.

Scotland Yard’s homicide and major crime command was looking to find out the motive for the attack and who was the intended target.

Joel was described by friends and neighbours as a friendly and popular boy whose mother, a nurse, took him to church. He was pictured in a firefighter’s outfit in photos that emerged after his death, which stunned the local community.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Joel Urhie. Photograph: Family handout/PA

Police said Joel’s mother and another woman, who were inside the house at the time, escaped by jumping out of a first-floor window, but the flames were so fierce that Joel could not be rescued. He was found dead inside the property.

The two women, who had non life-threatening injuries, were were taken by ambulance to Lewisham hospital.

Grace Gbenedio, 56, a neighbour, said that as the flames burned, she saw Joel’s mother and asked her where he was, to which she replied: “My son is inside, my son is inside.”

Gbenedio said: “She was on the floor crying, ‘Help, help, help.’ I held her and said, ‘Where is he?’ She said, ‘He’s still in there’.

“The fire was just too much, like a curtain, no one could go in or out. I said, ‘Where, where, where?’ She said, ‘That room’. We heard the last blast of the glass and she just collapsed.”

Detectives were scouring CCTV footage from the surrounding area to establish who was nearby around the time of the attack.

Six fire engines and about 35 firefighters were called to the scene at 3.25amand the blaze was brought under control just before 5am. Surrounding properties were evacuated as a precaution.

Joel’s father, John Urhie, who moved out of the family home five years ago, told reporters at the scene: “When I came, the first thing I saw was my daughter inside the ambulance. They said Joel’s dead, and there’s nothing I can do about it.

“He was a very lovely boy who was just loving life, and it’s a terrible loss.”

Urhie said he would never be able to forget the pain of losing his son, who was a keen footballer. “He played with everyone around here,” he said. “It’s a situation I can’t really talk about right now.”

The boy’s aunt, Ruth Urhie, said Joel was “full of life”.

“When I heard the news, I dropped my bag and ran straight to the hospital. The others are lucky to be alive,” she said.

DS Jane Corrigan of the Met said: “An innocent seven-year-old boy has lost his life in what should have been the safest place for him – his home.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A police officer in front of the badly damaged house in Deptford. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA

The London fire brigade said: “Firefighters arrived to find a very severe fire inside the house. The ground floor was badly damaged by the blaze, as well as the whole of the first floor and the stairs from the ground to the first floor.

“Two women jumped from the first-floor level shortly before the first firefighters arrived at the scene. They were both treated at the scene by firefighters and London ambulance service crews.”

Neighbours described hearing screams from inside the house. “I was initially woken by the screams of the neighbour,” said Andre Pavanello, a student who lives next door. “I first thought it might have been an attack, so I instantly looked out my window and I saw a little bit of fire, so I thought it was just a small house fire.

“I knocked on all my housemates’ doors and told them to come out. I ran downstairs and opened the front door and within that time, the whole front of the house was engulfed in flames. I had to shut the door straight away otherwise it would have come into our house.

“The fire brigade acted really fast, but I was told that the youngest son – the seven-year-old – was still up in the flames and no one could get to him.”

Elyzabeth Oksanya, who lives in a block of flats opposite the end-of-terrace house, said she knew the family well. “He’s in the same class as my son,” she said. “This is terrible.”

She fell to the floor and fought back tears as reporters told her the news. “She [the mother] is a close family friend. We see each other every day,” Oksanya said.