Three children and a man have been torched to death while a woman is fighting for life after a horrific car fire on a quiet Brisbane street.
Police, firefighters and paramedics swarmed Raven St, in Camp Hill, in the city’s south-east, after a white SUV with five people inside burst into flames at 8.20am.
The children were all aged under 10, police have confirmed, and the family lived in the suburb.
A resident, who lives 20m away, told The Australian a woman yelled out ‘he’s poured petrol on me” from her car window.
A series of explosions followed and ‘by that time you couldn’t get near the vehicle, unless you had a proper suit on, you were just no hope,’ he said.
A Raven Street resident told Daily Mail Australia he saw a woman, dressed in activewear, being hosed down on a neighbour’s lawn.
Three children and a man died when this Kia Sportage went up in flames in Camp Hill, in Brisbane’s south east, about 8.20am. A woman suffered critical injuries
Residents rushed to help as thick smoke filled the street, but the vehicle was completely alight, and there was little they could do to help the people inside
‘A neighbour was hosing her down…I don’t know who she was,’ said the resident, who asked not to be named.
Police have confirmed each of the children in the car were aged under 10-years-old.
The neighbour said he had spoken to a first responder: ‘He’s in tears. ‘Babies in the car,’ that’s what he said.’
The resident it was not clear whether that meant infants, toddlers or older children. The victims’ ages have not been confirmed.
The neighbour said he thought he heard a loud smoke detector noise going off about 8.30am, and became increasingly concerned as it kept going.
‘I thought it was maybe a grinder or something … then (after three or four minutes) I saw the smoke coming up and people started to make sounds’.
‘It was pretty confronting for everyone involved, extremely confronting for the residents.’
The fire brigade is less than a kilometre away from the disaster site in the city’s east, is fill with young families and elderly people.
Wendy Antoniou, who lives several houses up, said: ‘I thought something had landed on my roof, it was like BANG – I could feel the vibration.’
The fire happened in Camp Hill, in Brisbane’s east, which is an upmarket, family-oriented suburb, neighbours said
Thick smoke could be seen billowing across the street as the vehicle was engulfed in flames
Emergency crews surround the burnt out car where the bodies of two children remain inside
‘I came around the side window – well, I nearly bloody died. The fire brigade was everywhere, ambulance was everywhere.
‘All I could see was the smoke. I didn’t know whether it was a house on fire or what. Apparently, this car exploded.
‘First of all I couldn’t even see the flames – then I could see all these flames high in the air!’
‘It’s such a quiet street’.
Another resident said they heard screams coming from the street and ran to help.
‘I had people working at my house and we could hear screams and calls for help,’ he told The Courier-Mail.
‘The flames were huge, absolutely insane. We had to stand back because the fire fighters were rushing in.’
The street has been blocked off with police tape at both ends
Neighbour Murray Campbell said he heard a number of loud bangs.
‘It sounded very much like a gas cylinder explosion,’ he told AAP.
He said he called triple zero, and did not see anyone run from the car, which was engulfed in flames.
State Police Minister Mark Ryan described the incident as ‘horrific’.
For 24/7 confidential support, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14
Emergency crews were called to Raven St in Camp Hill, Brisbane, at 8.20am on Wednesday