Harlow: CCTV Plea Over Barn Mead Fire

Detectives investigating a fire that killed six members of the same family in Harlow have issued an appeal for help.

Essex Police are asking members of the public in the Barn Mead and Whitewaits areas of the town who have private CCTV cameras to contact them.

Dr Sabah Usmani, her sons Muneeb, nine, and Rayyan, six, and daughter Hira, 12, died on October 15 following the blaze at their home in Barn Mead. A third son, Sohaib, 11, and daughter Maheen, three, died later in hospital.

Dr Usmani's husband, Dr Abdul Shakoor, was the only survivor. A car parked nearby caught fire at about the same time.

An Essex Police spokesman said: "Any pictures could provide detectives with vital information concerning the suspicious house and car fire."

Last week the force said that they believed a burglary took place on the night of the fire after the family had gone to bed.

Detective Superintendent Rob Vinson, senior investigating officer on the case, said police think that several items including a laptop were removed from the house on the night of the fire.

Police are searching for Dr Shakoor's black Toshiba Satellite laptop, which was in the lounge when he went to bed that evening.

Officers want to talk to a group of teenage boys wearing tracksuits and baseball caps and two teenagers on pedal bikes who were seen in Barn Mead during the early hours of October 15.

Anyone with pictures or information should contact the serious crime directorate at Brentwood on 01277 266869 or email SCDappeals@essex.pnn.police.uk.