Taxi driver saves blaze family

LIFE saver: Shabir Hussain

A QUICK-thinking taxi driver has been described as an angel by the family he saved from a burning house.

Eagle-eyed neighbour Shabir Hussain (43) alerted the household on Brewerton Road, Clarksfield, in the early hours.

Through an interpreter the rescued family said afterwards: “He is an angel, he saved our lives. He didn’t even have his shoes on and he did everything he could to save us.”

Shabir was in bed when his smoke alarm responded to smoke coming from next door.

“I went out and saw smoke coming from the bedroom and bathroom windows next door. I banged on the door.

“I was shouting and they woke up, but couldn’t find the keys to the door. Everyone was in shock because there was smoke everywhere. I just had to get them out.”

Wearing his pyjamas and in bare feet, Shabir ran round the house, found some ladders and put them up to an open window.

He was about the start getting the family out when the door key was found, so he ran back to help an elderly neighbour out of bed and to safety.

Shah Begum (94), Mushtaq Ahmed (58), Zarina Bibi (53), Naila Rizwan (20) Sara Zareen (23), Falak Hussain (9) and Ramisa Hussain (3) were all taken to hospital, and some kept overnight.

Shabir said afterwards: “If we didn’t have a smoke alarm in our house, we wouldn’t have known about the fire as early as we did. It was very lucky.”

Three fire engines doused the flames. The fire was thought to have started when a gas hob was accidentally left switched on.

Councillor David Acton, chairman of Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Authority, said: “Mr Hussain’s actions were incredibly brave. There’s no doubt that by alerting the family when he did, he prevented a truly devastating outcome.”