FEMALE ARCHITECT, 23, DIED AFTER RUNNING INTO BURNING FLAT TO SAVE HER FIANCE

A young architect died after rushing into a burning block of flats to try and save her fiance, an inquest heard.

Sophie Rosser, 23, tried to raise the alarm when she saw the flat she shared with fiance Oscar Silva, 28, on the Isle of Dogs, East London, was on fire in August last year.

Poplar Coroner's court heard Miss Rosser, who had been returning from a party in Chelsea, had phoned Mr Silva to say he should get out.

Her body was found on the fourth floor and Mr Silva told the court he watched from the balcony, where he had fled from the smoke, as paramedics desperately tried to revive her.

In a statement read to the court said: 'A cab dropped her off at 1.37 on Sunday morning and I was asleep. Sophie called me to say there was a fire and our flatmate and I should evacuate.

'The intercom sounded but I couldn't hear who it was. The stairwell was full of smoke so we couldn't get out. We went back into the flat. I rang Sophie at 1.43 but there was no answer.

Miss Rosser's body was found on the fourth floor 

Sophie Rosser (right) who died at 23 after rushing into a burning block of flats trying to save her fiance Oscar Silva (left)

 

'I went to get the lift thinking she might have got in, but when it arrived there was nobody in it. I closed the door to the flat and went to open the balcony.

'I saw the fire brigade arriving and I saw paramedics doing their best to revive Sophie. When we got out I went to the hospital and I saw her twice, but she never regained consciousness.'

Miss Rosser was found in the lobby of the fourth floor of the six-floor building by fireman Joseph Carter.

Mr Carter, who was based at Millwall, told the inquest: 'When we arrived there were people crying, telling us to get in and get people out. It was my first big fire so I was quite nervous.

'When we got to the fourth floor there was zero visibility and it was very, very hot. I could feel the heat coming through my boots.

'I was staying low, virtually kneeling. I was feeling around with my left arm whilst trying to keep the wall close enough to touch so I could feel where I was.

'You couldn't see anything. My arm was outstretched and I was feeling for anything.

'After about 10 seconds of entering the lobby I felt Sophie's foot with my hand. I shouted "casualty" "casualty" until I knew my colleague knew I had found someone.

'I got to her head and she was unconscious. I got her to the lobby door and passed her over to my colleague.'

Coroner Mary Hassell asked Mr Carter if he could have remained conscious without breath apparatus in the area where he found Miss Rosser.

He said: 'It was really bad, it was thick black smoke from ceiling to the floor. Smoke would have overcome her in a matter of seconds.'

Miss Rosser was found on the fourth floor of the block, where the fire originated. It appears she was trying to make her way to the fifth floor where she lived with her boyfriend, to try and save him.

Coroner Dr Hassell asked: 'Is there any reason why she could have ended up on the fourth floor when she knew she lived on the fifth? We know she was trying to get to her boyfriend, but could she have become disorientated?'

Paul Hobbs, a firefighter from Whitechapel who arrived on the scene shortly after, told the inquest: 'It's hard to say, but she would have been overwhelmed with smoke and with the adrenaline pumping, she could have become disorientated.'

Grace Adong, a neighbour, told the inquest how she had left a damp towel over a lamp in her room, which appeared to cause the fire.

She said: 'I didn't think it would be any danger, the lamp had never worked in the two months I had been there.'

She said after returning from work she went to bed at about 1am but was woken by the smoke.

Mrs Adong told the court: 'I went to sleep about 1am. I noticed white smoke coming under the bedroom door. I opened it and there was a metre high of smoke in the corridor.

'I went into the front room and there were flames an the curtain was on fire. I thought it best I opened the balcony door to get rid of some smoke.'

The coroner asked: 'Had it not occurred to you that by opening the balcony door it could make things worse?'

Miss Adong told the court: 'No.'

The court heard how she ran out of the flat and banged all the doors on her floor to alert people but the fire continued to rage.

The five-day inquest continues.