11 Samoan and Tongans died in Australian house fire

[Stacey King]

ABC RADIO AUSTRALIA Updated August 24, 2011 16:47:00

In Logan city in the Australian state of Queensland the Tongan and Samoan communities there are in shock and mourning...

Police have described it as a scene of unimaginable tragedy... a house fire killed 11 residents, several of them children.

Three men managed to escape but witnesses say the blaze ripped through the Logan City home in minutes and that nothing could be done to rescue those still inside.

Distraught family members have gathered near the charred ruins in Slacks Creek where emergency services continue to work to recover the bodies, among them, three generations of one family.

Presenter: Matt Wordsworth
Speakers: Mawuala Timoteo, an elder in the Samoan community in Logan City; Zachary Pearson, Logan city resident; Mark Griffin, neighbour; Tanika Dwyer, neighbour; Anna Bligh, Premier of Queensland; Noel Powers, Queensland Police Superintendent; Peter Ryan, from the fire service; A concerned neighbour

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