A heartbreakingly brave 13-year-old girl died tragically this morning after saving her four younger siblings – one of whom is blind – in a house fire in Amadora.
The youngster, known only as Samira, went back and forth into her family’s apartment, rescuing her terrified younger siblings.
According to Jornal de Notícias, she went back into the apartment in Amadora thinking one was still inside when she became trapped.
Samira is understood to have been still alive when firemen finally brought her to safety, but she died later of her injuries.
The tragedy has left locals in the Bairro de Zambujal devastated and critical that it took the authorities too long to act.
Meantime, the whereabouts of her parents has not been confirmed.
According to JN, social services were aware that the children ran the risk of neglect. Neighbours reported that they were often seen playing outside at two or three o’clock in the morning, and they were frequently hungry.
Firefighters were called to the scene at 3.34am this morning, with the blaze that gutted the second floor apartment finally extinguished at 6am.
Initial reports on TVI24 mentioned the deaths of six people in the blaze.
