MOURNERS turned out in their thousands to say goodbye to three children and their mother who tragically died in a house fire.

Children, Hamaad, Yusuf and Khadijah Umerji, aged 12, 10 and five, were buried along with their mother Aneesa, aged 40, at Overdale Cemetery today.

About 4,000 people attended funeral prayers at the Zakariyya Jaame Masjid mosque, before the burial.

Mourners from all over the country travelled to Bolton to pay their respects.

Mrs Umerji and her three children died in a house fire in Rosamond Street, Daubhill, on Saturday morning.

Her husband, Zubair Umerji, who frantically tried to save his family's lives, was at the cemetery to see his wife and children buried.

Mr Umerji had bandages on both of his hands and led the coffins from vehicles to the burial site at the cemetery.

Two prayers were read at the mosque, in Arabic, one for each of the victims, following the usual afternoon prayers.

Rooms had to be cleared at the mosque to make sure everyone could fit inside for the prayers.

Following the prayers, hundreds of mourners travelled to the cemetery where another service took place and people gathered to pay their respects.

Among those who spoke at the cemetery was Simon Greenwood, Hamaad's learning support mentor at Birtenshaw School, who had written an emotional poem to the 12-year-old and read it out loud.

Mr Greenwood broke down in tears as he read the poem, which paid tribute to the youngster's independence and determination.

Imteyaz Ali, secretary at the Bolton Council of Mosques, said: "Thousands have turned up, from Preston and Blackburn, I have seen people from all over the place.

"People have come to show their grief. I have seen crowds at a service before but never to this extent. This just goes to show how it has touched a lot of people's hearts."

When the coffins arrived at the cemetery they were lifted from the car park down to the burial site where the funeral took place.

The crowds made a line from the cemetery car park through to the burial site and the coffins were passed one-by-one to where they would be buried.

Mourners stood in the rain as they gathered to pay their respects and a number of prayers were read out at the service in both English and Arabic.

The service at the cemetery was led by Imam, Maulana Rashid, who spoke of the community coming together to co-operate to support each other at the time of mourning.

He hailed 'Boltonians' for coming together during the tragedy.

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He described the children as 'three innocent souls' who were lost in the fire.

Mr Rashid also thanked the police, fire service, Bolton Council of Mosques, burial teams, Bolton Council and the whole community for their support during the difficult time.

Paying tribute to Mrs Umerji during the service, he said: "A very, very loving mother she was, she still is. She was a loving wife, daughter."

At the end of the funeral, as is traditional in the Islamic faith, the whole community was invited to put one or three handfuls of soil on to the coffins to help complete the burial and many people gathered their made their way forward to do so.

Mr Umerji had been taken to Royal Bolton Hospital for treatment after he jumped from a first floor window to escape the blaze.

He then tried to get back into the property as he sought to save the lives of his family.

Following the fire, Mr Ali, speaking on behalf of the family, said that they had been overwhelmed by the support that they had received and called on people to prayer for those that died and their relatives.

The family has been described as well respected and close knit in the community.