Girl dies in house fire

The injured were taken to Hull Royal Infirmary

A four-year-old girl who died in a house fire in Hull has been named by police.

Lauren Wilkins died when fire broke out in the two-storey house in Alexandra Avenue at 0900 GMT on Monday.

Humberside Police say the dead girl was one of nine people in the house at the time of the fire.

Lauren's brother and sister - aged six and nine respectively - were rescued from the house.

I was still in bed when I was woken up and heard a little girl scream

Emma Johnson

The family was believed to have been staying with friends at the property since before Christmas.

Lauren's mother and a man, thought to be her stepfather, are being treated in hospital for the effects of smoke inhalation and minor burns.

Emma Johnson, 20, the girlfriend of the man renting the property, was in the house when the fire started and was woken by screams.

She said: "I was still in bed when I woke up and heard a little girl scream. Then I heard the man scream too.

There was smoke everywhere, pouring out of the window

Neighbour Rob Lyon

"I jumped up and ran to the doorway and saw smoke everywhere. It was black and I could hardly breath.

"My boyfriend and the girls' father tried to get the children out."

Ms Johnson added she had been asleep in the ground-floor lounge and Lauren and her older sister had been in a first-floor bedroom, when the fire started.

She said she believed that the fire had started in a back room on the first floor.

Neighbour Rob Lyon, 64, was at the scene when emergency crews arrived.

Hospital treatment

He said: "It was about 0830 GMT when I heard the fire engines arrive.

"There was this whoosh and then an explosion and the upstairs window blew out.

"There was smoke everywhere, pouring out of the window.

"It's such a shame about that little girl - I knew her quite well.

"She was a lovely little girl, very good natured and friendly. She would always wave to me from the window whenever I went past."

A spokeswoman for Humberside Police said: "At least five people were injured and have been taken to Hull Royal Infirmary where they are receiving treatment for smoke inhalation and minor burns."

The spokeswoman added that two "walking wounded" managed to escape the blaze.

Officers are working with fire crews to establish the cause of the blaze.