A father and two children died in the heavy house fire in Herrljunga during the night of Monday.
Two people survived, the mother of the family and a child.
– It is an incredible tragedy, says the neighbor and friend of the family, Thomas Örn Karlsson.
The alarm about the fire came just before two in the morning on Monday. When emergency services arrived at the scene, they were met by heavy smoke which quickly developed into a larger fire.
A mother and a ten-year-old girl were able to get out, but the father and two ten-year-old children remained inside. When they were found by the smoke divers of the emergency services, it was too late.
“Day of Mourning”
Thomas Örn Karlsson lives nearby and says that he woke up to the rescue operation and saw the smoke coming from the house.
– It is an incredible tragedy, it is a day of mourning, he says.
When he discovered the fire, he tried to contact the family that lives in the house to see if it was with them.
– Life can change so terribly quickly and then you think about hugging your loved ones quite a few times. You never know when it will be the last time.
“Came a few tears last night”
He tells us that it is a small village, where everyone knows everyone and that his family were friends with the family concerned.
– Personally, it feels terribly sad, it goes without saying that there were some tears last night and there have been some tears today. You suffer, it becomes like a hole in the heart, he continues.
The cause of the fire is unknown and for technical reasons the incident is being investigated initially as arson. However, there is no indication that it was staged and the police have no suspicions against anyone. The police investigation will probably not start until Tuesday
Next of kin have been notified.