Family ‘lucky to be alive’ after fridge explodes

FAMILY have told how they are ‘lucky to be alive’ after their fridge exploded and burned down their house.

- BY CHARLIE FENTON

Damage caused by the fire

Nathan Abbott, 32, was at a fundraising event with his partner, Katie Craddock, 29, and their blind daughter Rebecca, 12, when they received a phone call from a friend that their house ablaze.

Their three-bedroom terraced home, on Old Road, Hyde, in Tameside, was completely destroyed by the inferno last weekend.

Dramatic images show the devastation, which was caused by their Beko fridge freezer exploding, leaving the family with only the clothes on their backs.

The couple - who also have three other children, Emily, eight, Harley, seven, who is autistic, and Freddie, aged two - have been left ‘devastated’ by the fire.

But they have revealed they feel they are ‘lucky to be alive’ as this was the first time ever all of them were out of the house.

Nathan, who works in a warehouse, said: “We are lucky to be alive, as we rarely leave the house.

“One of us is normally in looking after the kids, so we got very lucky with the timing that we were at the fundraiser and our children were their grandparents.