London-based Ghanaian teenager dies in fireball
A Ghanaian teenage mother living in London ended 2013 on a very tragic note when she died in a fireball after running from her home in flames last Sunday.
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Rachel Osei, 18, was heard screaming in agony before collapsing on the pavement where she died from terrible burns.
Police believe Miss Osei, who was studying to be a Physical Education (PE) teacher at Queen Mary's University, may have caught fire inside her house.
Three members of the public tried to extinguish the flames, but they were unable to save her.
Neighbours
Neighbours said Miss Osei’s four-year-old-son, Kai, was staying with relatives at the time of the tragedy.
The tragedy took place outside Miss Osei’s semi-detached home in New Malden, South-West London.
She was living in a property owned by the Wandle Housing Association, which often houses single mothers.
Neighbours described how they heard the noise of ‘terrible screaming’ shortly after 1 a.m. on Sunday.
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Miss Osei was found with severe burns close to a level crossing at the junction of West Barnes Lane and Burlington Road
Firemen, paramedics and police raced to the scene but she was pronounced dead at 1.45a.m.
Investigators are treating her death as ‘unexplained’, but it is understood their main line of inquiry is that her injuries may have been self-inflicted.
Her heartbroken father Jonathan Osei, 48, said he could not understand what had happened.
“Rachel was at university training to be a sports teacher,” he said. She wanted to do well and provide for her son. When I heard about the fire, I tried to call her on her mobile phone but there was no answer.
“I loved Rachel. She was a lovely, lovely daughter. I named her after my mother. I had four children but now I have only three.”
The teenager's mother was said to be too upset to talk about the horrific incident.
Tributes
Two bouquets of flowers had been left outside her semi-detached home which had been cordonned off by police following the tragedy.
Hannah Sirott and Rhianna Price, who left the flowers said: “We had the pleasure of studying music with Rachel for four years. She enjoyed music and rapping. She was a good person and she is definitely going to be missed by a lot of people.”
Queen Mary's University, where the young mother was training to be a PE teacher, has also paid tribute to her.
Credit: Mail Online