melbourne twin toddlers burnt 50 and 80% after playing with matches unsupervised in garage

Fire caused by twins playing with matches


The backyard garage blast that has left twin boys fighting for their lives in Melbourne may have been caused by the boys playing with matches, their family says.

Four-year-olds Omer and Abdullah Kocoglu remain in a critical condition in hospital, one suffering burns to 80 percent of his body and the other with burns to 50 percent of his body, including his face.

Their uncle, Muhammed Ali Kocoglu, said the boys were in the garage of the grandfather's Hampton East property in Melbourne's southeast when the fire started about 7pm (AEDT) last night.

The family believes the fire started when furniture inside the garage caught alight and spread to a petrol can for a lawn mower, prompting the explosion.

"I thought it would have been because they were playing with matches or something like that," Mr Kocoglu told reporters at the scene.

The boys' father Isa tried three times to get into the garage before the boys ran out, Mr Kocoglu said.

"It was a very, very horrific thing that happened," the uncle said.

Neighbours tried desperately to assist, pouring water over the twins.

Hampton East resident Henry Ozsoy said the family had been in the middle of a house move so all their furniture and cleaning products were left in the garage. The garage was also reportedly full of old furniture as well as barbecues and gas cylinders.

Neighbour Travis Graeske saw flames coming from the garage and went across the road to help.

"It was absolutely horrific," 23-year-old Travis Graeske told ABC Radio.

"Everything, just the smell, the screaming, it's like something out of movie, you've just never seen that stuff before," Mr Graeske said.

Mr Graeske told ABC Radio how he and a mate tried to get to the back of the garage after hearing screams and glass smashing, but were unable to get closer than 20m due to the ferocity and height of the flames.

Mr Graeske and his friend had to get everybody out of the house to the front yard.

He then saw the boys run out of the garage and a neighbour doused their burns with a water hose, he told ABC radio.

"[One of the boys] was in shock. I don't understand how he wasn't crying because you couldn't even look at it," Mr Graeske said.

"As soon as we got water on them they just started screaming," he told the ABC.

The boys' father, Isa Kocoglu, 30, was taken by road ambulance to the Dandenong District Hospital, after suffering minor burns from trying to extinguish the blaze.



those poor babies and their parents it proves when toddlers are left unsupervised anything can happen imagine if the mcann twins had found matches?????????????

When my children were little, we had coal fires and I was always extremely careful that matches were in a safe place. However, as a contingency, just in case the children ever got hold of a box of matches, I stressed how dangerous they could be and showed them how to light them and extinguish them properly!

Justiceforallkids wrote:..it proves when toddlers are left unsupervised anything can happen...

and probably will.

At least the McCanns had the foresight to leave the door open ...... in case of fire.



I bet they wish they had never said this!

Those poor children - I hope they both recover, but what suffering they'll have to endure. So very, very sad.

The truth is that very young children simply don't know how to cope with danger. Where Madeleine is concerned, she would have had no idea what to do in an emergency, be it fire, sickness, accident, intruder or whatever. How on earth could she? Leaving a door unlocked, whether supposedly in case of fire or for Madeleine to get out and go looking for her parents, would be (if they really had done such a thing) the height of irresponsibility. What if a fire started and the unlocked door was inaccessible? You can't ever know where a fire might start in a building with an electricity supply. And how could you expect a toddler not to panic? If Madeleine had woken up to find a smoke-filled room what would she have done? Thought 'Oh, I remember, Mummy says I'm not to try getting the twins out of their cots, I'm just to get to the door and raise the alarm'? Huh! As if anyone would believe such utter tripe. Those children were left in unattended in a building where harm could - and seemingly - did come to one of them.

All IMO.

the poor babies are still critical and in a induced coma :(

Justiceforallkids wrote:the poor babies are still critical and in a induced coma :(

Very sad, Carly. I'm sure they are receiving the best possible care. Keep us updated, please.

docmac wrote:

Justiceforallkids wrote:the poor babies are still critical and in a induced coma :(

Very sad, Carly. I'm sure they are receiving the best possible care. Keep us updated, please.

Ditto.

POPPY1 wrote:

docmac wrote:

Justiceforallkids wrote:the poor babies are still critical and in a induced coma :(

Very sad, Carly. I'm sure they are receiving the best possible care. Keep us updated, please.

Ditto.

Me three. Poor little souls.