Pictured: Boy, four, who died in horror house fire despite heroic efforts of neighbour who was left with shocking burns after trying to save his life
- Child died after house fire at Dandenong in Melbourne’s southeast on Sunday
- Three adults and two children fled from the terrifying blaze and escaped injury
- A neighbour tried to save the child but suffered serious burns from the fire
A four-year-old boy who tragically died in a house fire is being remembered as a ‘fun and cheeky’ child who loves animals.
Rithish Kirushnaneethan died in the fire at about 1opm on Saturday in Dandenong, in Melbourne’s southeast.
His mother and other family members tried desperately to rescue the boy but he died at the scene.
The little boy’s distraught father sobbed as he recalled the moment his wife called to tell him about the fire which destroyed his family’s home.
Four-year-old Rithish Kirushnaneethan (pictured) tragically died in a house fire on Saturday despite heroic attempts to save his life
‘My wife call(ed) me….(I came home and there was) fire, everything (was) gone,’ he said to The Herald Sun.
Rithish’s cousin, Cham Saminthadarshan, said his death was ‘very hard’ for the family.
‘(Rithish) is very playful, very friendly, and he loves pets, he was sleeping with his pet last night as well,’ Ms Saminthadarshan said.
She also said that Rithish’s mother is ‘very upset’ and that it is a ‘very hard at the moment for everyone’.
The man, in his 30s, who tried to save the young boy was taken to The Royal Prince Alfred Hospital with serious burns.
A 29-year-old woman was also taken to Dandenong Hospital in a stable condition and was treated for smoke inhalation
The family had only moved into the Leonard St home two weeks ago.
Three adults and two children fled from the blaze and escaped without injury.
A child has died after becoming trapped in a house fire while a neighbour who tried to save their life has been taken to hospital with serious burns
The home went up in flames on Leonard Street at Dandenong, in Melbourne’s southeast (pictured), at 10pm on Sunday
Police have set up a crime scene and are investigating the cause of the fire.
They are not treating the fire as suspicious and believe it may have been caused by a gas heater in the living room of the home.
A woman has also died in a separate fire after a blaze ripped through a property on Badge Court at Laverton, in Melbourne’s south-west, just after midnight.
Two other occupants managed to escape the blaze while the woman was found dead inside the ‘extensively damaged’ home.
Police have set up a crime scene and are investigating the cause of the fire (stock image)