Family and friends of the eleven people believed to have died gather at the scene. Credit:Robert Shakespeare With police operations suspended at 6pm tonight, Police Superintendent Noel Powers said work to recover more victims would resume at first light on Thursday morning. The remaining seven bodies are believed to be in the ground level of the house near the seat of the fire. ‘‘I hope we’ll be able to retrieve the remaining bodies,’’ he said. ‘‘They’ve got a location where the bodies are, but it’s proving to be the most difficult.

The gutted house in which eleven people are feared dead. Credit:Robert Shakespeare ‘‘There’s been some flooring collapse as well, so it’s a bit of a mess, still quite dangerous and we’re still working with Queensland Fire and Rescue to shore up parts of the house and make things safe for the people who need to get in there and do their job.’’ He said two bodies were found upstairs and another two downstairs, contradicting earlier reports that the victims had huddled together and perished in one room. Family and friends of the eleven people believed to have died in the fire gather at the scene. Credit:Robert Shakespeare He said it was not yet possible to determine the final movements of the victims.

“The position of the bodies, where they’re found and how they’re found will probably dictate what was going on in those last few horrible moments,’’ he said. A crowd gathers at the scene of the fire at Logan this morning. Credit:Marissa Calligeros Earlier this afternoon the van carrying the bodies of the first two children recovered stopped briefly in the middle of the street. The back doors were opened to allow immediate family to offer a brief prayer and farewell hymn. Hundreds of people from the community lined the street as the van was driven away.

Earlier, Voice of the Samoan People of Logan president John Pale told how father-of-five Jeremiah Lale had smashed a window, thrown a mattress on the ground, jumped out and called for his family to follow in a bid to escape the deadly blaze. But the father-of-five's family was trapped inside. His partner's parents, who owned the family house, are Tongan. Their two daughters resided there with their respective partners and children. Mr Lale's sister-in-law and her two young daughters, aged 6 and 3, all perished alongside their grandmother and teenage cousin, whose parents lived at house but were away for the evening. Mr Pale said he struggled to comprehend how Mr Lale would recover from the tragedy.

"I don't know whether he will be able to get over it," he said.



"It's going to be very hard. His whole life was his children. He spent his time working to put them through school." Queensland Police Minister Neil Roberts said at around 2pm that disaster identification experts would begin recovering bodies within the next two to three hours, with the process likely to take one to two days. "This event is potentially the worst residential fire tragedy in Queensland's history," he said. Police have set up a major incident room at the Logan police station and expect officers will remain at the site of the fire until at least Friday. They do not believe the fire was suspicious. Premier Anna Bligh and Mr Roberts arrived at the scene this morning, to join about 50 distraught family and friends who formed a circle outside the house and were singing and praying.

“This is a community in shock today but it is a very strong and close-knit community and they are rallying around each other,” Ms Bligh said. “It [the house] is devastating to look at and it’s hard to imagine being in it.” Logan Mayor Pam Parker said the tragedy was the worst the city had experienced.



"This is Logan's greatest tragedy. This is the saddest day in Logan's history," she said.



"It's just heart wrenching and terrifying to think about." Emergency services were called to the two-storey house on Wagensveldt St in Slacks Creek, south of Brisbane, shortly after midnight to find it well alight. The fire was under control by 2.51am. Two cars outside the house were also alight when firefighters arrived and several neighbouring houses at risk of also catching ablaze were saved.

Four gas cylinders were stored under the high-set house. Fire crews arrived to find them "venting quite badly" but said they did not explode. However a number of witnesses reported hearing loud bangs. One man who escaped the house had a shoulder injury but refused transport; another man suffered minor facial burns and was taken to hospital, a Department of Community Safety spokeswoman said. Acting chief superintendent Peter Ryan said the house had been reduced to a "charred hull''. "The upper floor boards of the house have fallen through. Inside the home is completely destroyed,'' he said. Specialists, who identified victims of terrorist attacks in Bali, have been called in to help identify victims of the house fire.

Superintendent Powers this morning decribed it as a tragedy unlike any he had ever seen. “It’s a total, utter catastrophe. It’s a tragedy beyond all proportions,’’ he said. Local Christian Pastor Terry Walker said the Tongan and Samoan community was close-knit and the tragedy would “hurt hundreds of people”. Neighbour Zachary Pearson, 16, said he was disturbed about midnight by a loud bang. He and his parents rushed outside to find the house two doors down was engulfed in flames.

“Within minutes, it was so big. It was too big for anyone to do anything. Within minutes the roof was gone. The only warning was just one big bang,’’ he said. His immediate neighbours also rushed outside with their three children, fearing for their lives. “We all just watched helplessly,’’ he said. “We gave our neighbours blankets and food that’s all we could do. “The relatives from just around the corner rushed here as well. They were screaming and crying on the street.’’

Neighbour Mark Griffin, 46, was also woken up by large explosion about 12.30pm before hearing a series of smaller blasts. “I raced outside to find flames well alight at the bottom of the house and they were working their way up,'' Mr Griffin said. “I could see the glare from the blaze and smoke billowing as I went into [my] backyard. I could feel the heat from the fire.'' Loading with Daniel Hurst and AAP

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