A DEEPLY SADDENED dad said that his wife and two kids were going to move to America with him to start a new life, but that they were killed in a house fire.
Fatoumatta Hydara, who was 28, Naeemah, who was 1, and Fatimah Drammeh, who was 3, all died in a terrible fire at the first-floor flat in Nottingham last Sunday.
Jamie Barrow, who lives next door and is 31 years old, has been charged with three counts of murder.
Aboubacarr Drammeh, who is 40 years old, has now said that he was trying to get US visas for his family so that they could come live with him in Minnesota, where he works as a biomedical technologist.
But the fire took away his hopes for a happy future when it killed both of his children and his wife, who he had been married to since 2014.
Aboubacarr met Fatoumatta through her uncle. He said that as a young family, they had "so much to look forward to."
He also said, "We had an interview set up for November 29. It was supposed to be the last interview before we got their visas, which we hoped to do."
"That won't happen right now, and I don't know why."
After the fire broke out in the early hours of Sunday, Aboubacarr rushed back from America.
His kids were rushed to the hospital, but they couldn't be saved, and they were soon pronounced dead.
Fatoumatta was put on a machine to keep him alive, but he died early on Tuesday.
He said, "I got the call at 5 a.m. I was praying, and when I was done, I saw that the children's grandmother had called five times but I hadn't answered.
"When I called her back, she started to cry.
"She said there was a fire and the kids didn't make it, and Fatoumatta was in the intensive care unit."
Aboubacarr said he had talked to his wife the last time a few hours before the fire.
He said, "I talked to her about midnight on that Saturday night. We joked with each other and talked a lot about the trip and her coming to the United States.
"The last time we saw each other was when we went bowling in September.
"Family and spending time with them were very important to us. We really cared about it."
Aminata Dibba, Fatoumatta's heartbroken mother, said, "My heart hurts every day" because she lost her beloved daughter and two grandchildren.
"Everyone who knew her loved her," the 44-year-old woman said of her daughter. She was always happy and full of life, and she always had a smile on her face."
Nottinghamshire Police said that they and the fire service looked into the fire and found that it was started on purpose.
Friday, suspect Jamie Barrow went to the Nottingham Magistrates' Court from jail.
During the short hearing, Barrow, who was dressed in a grey sweatshirt top and jogging pants, only said his name, date of birth, and address.
He was kept in jail until his next court date on Monday at Nottingham Crown Court.