A mother has died and her teenage daughter has been left fighting for her life after a fire 'spread' along a terraced street of houses.
The woman, 42, was pronounced dead at the scene after the blaze tore through four homes in Saint Thomas Street North in Oldham, Gtr Manchester, on Saturday.
A girl of 15, believed to be her daughter, remained in hospital today (Mon) in a critical condition with the 'worst burns' a nurse has ever seen.
One local woman paid tribute to the victim, who has yet to be identified by police but was named locally as Sadia and is believed to be a mother of three.
She said: "She was a lovely, lovely lady. It is friendly around here so we would say 'assalamu alaikum' or 'hello' when we passed each other.
"She would walk to school and stop off and have the odd chat.
"She always looked the part - she was well dressed and wore things that were on trend.
"If I saw Sadia wearing something, I would think, oh that's trendy, I think she worked in a shop in town.
"But I liked that about her, that she made the effort, and she had beautiful long hair.
"She was just such a happy soul. You just feel awful about it. She was just like me, another mother who works and is trying her best.
"It brings it all home just how precious and small life is and that you shouldn't take it for granted.
"It's horrible. We didn't sleep as we heard noise all through the night because the fire services were still there. Everyone is grieving."
Another man, whose grandmother lives in one of the damaged houses, claimed he's spoken to a nurse who described the burns as 'the worst she's ever seen'.
He said: "It's such a close-knit community. We have all known each other for many, many years.
"It's such a shock. Our condolences are for the family of the deceased woman and we hope her daughter recovers and her other two sons as well and that the rest of the family are able to have strength and patience."
The blaze broke out at around 4pm on Saturday and Firefighters battled it through the evening into the night.
Two men tried to gain entry kick the back door down before firefighters arrived, but couldn't get past the staircase, locals said.
Tragically, police confirmed the woman died late on Saturday evening.
Residents living nearby today said they were still reeling from the shocking blaze as a large police presence remains at the scene today.
Detective Chief Inspector Andrew Naismith, of Greater Manchester Police, said: "The family of the victim are now being supported by specialist officers and have been kept updated throughout. They are also assisting us with our enquiries.
“We are still working with partner agencies to get those residents who have been displaced back into their homes as safely and soon as possible."
Anyone with information is urged to call police.
