Girl, 3, and boy, 5, killed in Lancashire house fire named as neighbours describe heart-breaking battle to save family

A mum desperately tried to save her children from a house fire, devastated neighbours have said. Lorena Gabriela struggled to lift up her two children who were killed in the blaze on Coronation Crescent in Preston, Lancs on April 8, the Mirror reports.

One resident who ran to help tried to get Ms Gabriela to throw her children Louis, five, and Desiré, three, down and offered to catch them, a witness said. But they were only able to save her before the fire brigade arrived to pull the children out.

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Tragically both children died as a result of their injuries after the inferno took hold of the house 'in seconds'. Tony Richardson rushed to the scene and created a makeshift platform for Lorena to jump onto.

He told the Mirror: “I was sat in the house and I could smell burning plastic so I looked out, saw the house on fire and I could see someone screaming.

"I’ve struggled to sleep since it happened. I had my uni friend round and we rushed out to try and help.

“The first person on the scene was trying to get the mum to throw the kids down saying they would catch them but she was only petite so I think she was struggling to lift them up.

“Someone else went round the back to try and get in that way. I could see the window was about to blow so we told her you need to jump now.

"Me and my friend grabbed a discarded wooden board and put it on top of some wheelie bins to create a platform for her to jump out onto. When she was down I wrapped my arms round her and took her away into the street but she was screaming ‘my babies, my babies’."

Malesh Nayli, who owns Frenchwood Convenience store on the crescent, said: “I know Lorena