Four children have died following an "intense blaze" at a house in south London on Thursday evening.

       All the children are understood to be under the age of five.

       Police said that the young children, all believed to be related, were treated at the scene after being recovered from the property, but later died in hospital.

       The London Fire Brigade (LFB) said eight fire engines and around 60 firefighters were sent to Collingwood Road, Sutton, at just before 7pm on Thursday to reports of the fire.

       Andy Roe, London Fire Commissioner spoke last night of his “profound sadness” at the incident that left “everyone numb”.

       Eight fire engines and around 60 firefighters were called to the house fire on Collingwood Road in Sutton. The first fire crews on scene were faced with an intense blaze throughout the whole of the ground floor.

       Firefighters in breathing apparatus entered the mid-terrace house and brought four young children out of the property.

       Fire crews throughout the whole of the ground floor of the property, the LFB said.

       Four young children were taken out of the house and given CPR by firefighters at the scene until paramedics from the London Ambulance Service arrived.

       After which the young children were taken to hospital where they later died.

       The fire was under control by 8.36pm and the cause of the blaze is currently under investigation.

       London Fire Commissioner Andy Roe said: "This is an incident that has left everyone numb with profound sadness. My thoughts are with the family and friends of the children, the whole local community and all those who will be affected by this fire.

       "Fire crews arrived quickly and located the children inside the property.

       "They were brought out of the house and given immediate emergency care. The welfare of our staff involved in this incident is very important to us and all of them will be offered counselling as a priority."

       As of Thursday night there had been no arrests made by police officers, with the Met adding that the children “were treated at the scene before being taken to two south London hospitals. Very sadly, all four were pronounced dead.

       “Next of kin are aware and will be provided with specialist support. Road closures are in place and emergency services remain at the scene.”

       Superintendent Rob Shepherd said: "The thoughts of everyone at the South Area Command Unit are with the family and friends of these four young children, who have suffered such a devastating and tragic loss tonight. I know these sentiments will be shared by the local community, Sutton and London as a whole.

       "We remain on scene with our emergency service colleagues and will be working through the night and beyond. At this very early stage the cause of the fire is unknown and will be investigated."

       Graham Norton, assistant director of operations at London Ambulance Service, said: "We sent a number of resources to the scene including ambulance crews, advanced paramedics, paramedics in fast response cars, incident response officers and members of our Hazardous Area Response Team (HART).

       "We also dispatched trauma teams from London's Air Ambulance and Air Ambulance Kent Surrey Sussex - both teams consisted of a paramedic and a doctor in a car.

       "We treated four children at the scene and took them to hospital.

       "Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the four young children and everyone affected by this devastating tragedy."