A woman who died in a Bexleyheath house fire made a desperate phone call to her husband while flames engulfed the house, a relative has said.

The woman’s shouts of “fire, fire” through the phone prompted her husband to run to the blazing house on Thursday evening, according to the husband’s cousin, who gave his name only as Jega.

Fire crews and police were called to a semi-detached terrace on Hamilton Road at around 8.30pm (November 18).

The victims were pulled from the first floor as the house went up in flames, neighbours said, but sadly died all four died at the scene.

News Shopper: A relative at the scene of a house fire on Hamilton Road in Bexleyheath (PA)A relative at the scene of a house fire on Hamilton Road in Bexleyheath (PA)

The youngsters are believed to be an infant boy and girl, the Metropolitan Police said, and the four are believed to be related to each other.

The cousin said: “He (the husband) said he got a call from his wife and she was just shouting and then the call ended. It went silent.

“She was shouting ‘fire, fire’.”

He added: “It is so sad. It is impossible to comfort him or to describe what he is going through.”

The cousin said the family were of Sri Lankan heritage.

Builder and nearby resident Scott James, 44, said the house was “quickly engulfed in flames” on Thursday evening as smoke blew on to the street, while a “distraught” man collapsed against a wall.

“The downstairs was on fire and then the whole house went up. It was engulfed in flames. There wasn’t an explosion,” he told the PA news agency.

Mr James said he told other neighbours to stay back until firefighters arrived who “very quickly had ladders up to the windows” and pulled one woman out from the upper level.

“I saw them yesterday and waved at them,” he said.

“I spoke to them just to say hello. It was just pleasantries. It is very sad to wake up this morning and hear they have perished.”

READ MORE: Live updates after four die in Bexleyheath house fire

Ling Han, 36, who lives 10 metres away, said her family heard “sharp screaming” coming from inside the house and her children told her “there was a big fire”.

She saw firefighters take two children out of the house and the emergency services trying to save their lives.

“They tried really hard to do CPR. They never gave up. They tried to do CPR for the children,” she said.

“I was shocked. My body was shocked. I had no idea how I could help them…

“I saw a huge flame in the first floor.

“I am just so sad because we could see people in danger and could not do anything for them.”

A fire engine was parked outside the house on Friday morning, and the blackened first floor windows could be seen from behind a police cordon.

Uniformed officers stood guard in front of blue sheets at the end of the road, where mourners had laid flowers.

The cause of the fire is not thought to be suspicious and there have been no arrests, the Met said.

Have you got a story for us? You can contact us here.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to keep up with all the latest news.

Sign up to our newsletters to get updates sent straight to your inbox.