Neighbours have told how they heard screaming and saw a “distraught” man collapsed outside, as a house in south-east London was engulfed by flames, killing two women and two children. The London fire brigade (LFB) said six fire engines and about 40 firefighters were called to the blaze on Hamilton Road in Bexleyheath shortly before 8.30pm on Thursday. Crews in breathing apparatus rescued two women and two children – understood to be an infant boy and girl – from the first floor using a nine-metre-long ladder, but all four died at the scene. Police said the deceased were all believed to have been related to each other and that next of kin had been informed and were receiving specialist support. A man who left the building before firefighters arrived was taken to hospital with injuries to his legs. Police said his condition was not thought to be life-threatening. London ambulance service said four people died at the scene and that they treated a further two people and took them to hospital. Ling Han, 36, a neighbour, said her family heard “sharp screaming” coming from inside the house and saw a “huge flame” on the first floor. She said she saw emergency services trying to save the lives of the children. “They tried really hard to do CPR. They never gave up. They tried to do CPR for the children. I was shocked. My body was shocked. I had no idea how I could help them.” Scott James, 44, another neighbour, said he saw a “distraught” man collapsed against a wall outside the house when he arrived at the scene and that the home was “quickly engulfed in flames”. “I got overwhelmed by smoke and then the whole house was engulfed,” the builder said. “The downstairs was on fire and then the whole house went up. It was engulfed in flames. There wasn’t an explosion.” When firefighters arrived, they “very quickly had ladders up to the windows” and he said he saw them pulling a woman out of a top-floor window. He added: “It all happened so quickly. I have never seen anything like it.” He believes the child victims of the fire were a toddler and a boy of about five or six years old. The family had only lived in their recently renovated home for about five months, he said. “I saw them yesterday and waved at them. I spoke to them just to say hello. It was just pleasantries. It is very sad to wake up this morning and hear they have perished.” A man who would be identified only as Jega, and said he was a cousin of one of the victim’s husband, said she called her husband from inside the house shouting “fire fire”, prompting him to rush home. He added: “It is so sad. It is impossible to comfort him or to describe what he is going through.” On Friday morning, the house was blocked off by a police cordon and guarded by officers. Mourners laid flowers at the end of the street. The cause of the fire is under investigation. LFB said that half of the ground floor and the whole of the first floor of the house was destroyed by fire. They were called at 8.28pm and the incident was over by 9.45pm. “This is a truly terrible incident which is both sad and shocking,” said Andy Roe, the London fire commissioner. “Our thoughts are with the family, friends and local community at this difficult time.” DCS Trevor Lawry, the head of policing for Bexley, Lewisham and Greenwich, said: “Our thoughts are with the family of the deceased, who have suffered such an awful and devastating loss.” He added: “Our inquiries are ongoing and we will continue to work with our colleagues in the London fire brigade to fully understand the cause of this terrible incident. In these very early stages we don’t believe the cause of the fire is suspicious.” The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said he was “heartbroken” by the incident. “The London fire brigade worked tirelessly at the scene to put out the fire and I remain in close contact with them over their urgent investigation into this terrible incident.”