The first images of the house from the horror blaze in east London which killed On The Busses star Anna Karen age 85, unveil the tragic situation.
Firefighters were called to the mid terrace home in illford on Tuesday (February 22) in the evening.
It was neighbours who had alerted the emergency services after they’d spotted smoke coming from the home belonging to the actress.
Pictures obtained by Daily Star show the devastation of the fire that stole the life of the soap star who played Aunt Sal in EastEnders.
(Image: Tim Merry)
In the pictures, a policeman can be seen walking away from the red brick house that appeared empty and bleak.
An off-white net curtain was caught in the images escaping from an open upstairs window.
The property otherwise doesn’t appear to be showing any major damage from the outside.
According to an eye-witness, the emergency services were on-hand immediately and had to kick down the door to get in.
Sivalai Pavananthakumar told The Sun: “There was a lot of smoke, and flames, people in the street had seen what was happening and came out to try and help.
(Image: Tim Merry)
“The fire brigade and police were here quickly and kicked down the door, there was so much smoke.”
According to police, a body of a woman was discovered inside the house but a formal identification has not yet taken place.
It is understood that the blaze is not being treated as suspicious by the authorities.
Further investigation is being carried out by the London Fire Brigade to understand what caused the fire which ripped through the ground floor of the property.
The British-South African native was best known for her role as Olive in the 70s sitcom On The Buses.
Karen had also struck up the role of Aunt Sal, Dame Barbara Windsors on-screen EastEnders sister.
While the role was not permanent, she did have many occasional appearances from 1996 until 2017.
Tributes have poured in for the famous star online, with the likes of Jake Wood and Danniella Westbrook from the BBC Soap all sharing sweet comments.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
