Toddler dies from horrific burns after climbing safety guard fitted by council and falling in gas fire

A toddler died from horrific burns after she tumbled onto a gas fire at her home from a badly fitted safety guard, an inquest heard.
Hawwa Khan suffered 60 per cent burns when she clambered on to the wire mesh guard and lost her balance at her home in Bradford, West Yorkshire, last December. She was just 23 months old.
Her mother, Bushra Kauser, 23 - who was three months pregnant with her third child at the time of the tragedy - told the hearing that the guard was fitted after she was offered a council-backed home safety check.

Fire investigator Jonathan Needham said at yesterday's inquest that the guard did not completely protect the gas fire at the toddler's home in Marsh Street, West Bowling.
The hearing was adjourned so that witnesses from council-run Burnett Fields Children and Family Centre, who fitted the guard, could attend.
Mrs Kauser had run upstairs to fetch some clothes for Hawwa and her little sister, Awra, who was 10-months-old at the time, when she heard the girls crying.
The housewife asked her husband Saeed Khan, 25, to go and check on their daughters, then heard him screaming as he saw Hawwa's baby-gro was on fire.
Bushra raced to the living room to find her husband desperately trying to put out the flames using a sofa cushion.

 

After Hawwa was rushed to hospital, her distraught parents maintained a constant vigil at her bedside as she battled her injuries for three weeks.
But the toddler died on December 27 when her organs failed.

The fireplace where Hawwa was injured is seen with a fire guard similar to the one that was fitted

Hawwa Khan pictured holding her sister Awra (left) and the gas fire involved in the accident (right)

Hawwa's mother told how the centre had arranged for a workman to come to her house and fit cupboard locks, socket covers, gates and the fireguard.
'I got approached by a woman in the street,' she said.
'The lady from the centre filled out a form and said I was eligible for some safety scheme and they would come and fit it all in - which they did.'
But Mr Needham said the mesh fireguard was not suitable for the modern fireplace at the house because it was raised up from the floor and built into the chimney breast.
'The guard did not completely protect the fire,' he said.
Tragedy struck when Hawwa managed to climb onto a square footstool and then clamber on top of the fireguard, where she lost her balance and toppled into the flames.

'We miss her very much'

Hawwa's mother Bushra Kauser

The toddler was rushed to Bradford Royal Infirmary and later transferred to the intensive care unit at Royal Manchester Hospital for specialist treatment.
But her burns were so severe that despite desperate efforts to save the tot, her condition deteriorated.
Hawwa began to suffer seizures and her organs failed.

The inquest was adjourned so that witnesses from Burnett Fields Children and Family Centre, pictured, could attend

Adjourning the hearing, coroner Peter Straker said: 'This is not a court of blame, it's a court of fact-finding to find the truth and prevent other deaths'.
Outside the court the toddler's mother said: 'Hawwa was loved. We miss her very much.'
Speaking from her home in Bradford after the hearing, Mrs Kauser said she had initially thought her daughter would be okay following the disaster.
'I didn't see how badly Hawwa was injured because I could not even bring myself to look at her,' said the housewife, who gave birth to baby Muhummed Dihya in June this year.
'I could see her eyelashes and hair was burnt but she had her eyes open so I thought she would be okay.

Hawwa Khan was rushed to Bradford Royal Infirmary before being transferred to the ICU at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital

'We miss Hawwa so much,' the young mother said.
'There isn't a day goes by that I don't cry for Hawwa but I do stay strong for my family and for the other children, they keep me going.'