The family told RTE that they believe it may have been a racially-motivated attack.
A young woman who went back into her burning home following an arson attack to rescue her younger siblings has said her family has lost everything and are now homeless.
Amanda Uwase, a Masters student at DCU, said the family does not know why a petrol bomb was thrown into their Dublin home on 30 December, though they suspect the attack may have been racially motivated, reports RTE.
Gardaí believe the incident may be a case of mistaken identity, while the family acknowledged that certain criminals living in the area could have been the intended target.
Ms Uwase, 23, said she was in the sitting room with her younger sister watching a French programme when they heard a loud bang from the kitchen at around 11pm, reports RTE.
Upon investigating, they found the kitchen on fire, apparently caused by a petrol bomb thrown through the window.
They both ran, and Ms Uwase called emergency services, but said she was too terrified and incoherent to speak, reports RTE.
She instructed her younger sister to run for help but then returned to the house after realising her mother, two younger brothers aged 11 and 14, and 16-year-old sister were still inside.
She said she ran past the flames on the stairs to the second-floor children’s bedroom, finding them panicked, terrified, and in shock, reports RTE.
After a few minutes, they broke one of the bedroom windows and could hear neighbours shouting for them to jump.
The young girl jumped from the second floor first, followed by her two brothers, who were seriously injured in the fall, reports RTE.
Ms Uwase leapt last onto a mattress brought by neighbours but suffered burns to her arms and body.
She wanted to rescue her mother as well, but the fire was too intense to reach the third-floor bedroom; her mother was rescued by firefighters, reports RTE.
Her mother, who had returned home from a 12-hour shift as a carer, had fallen into a deep sleep during the attack.
The children did not realise she had survived until later because they were already taken to hospital.
She spent a week in intensive care and remains in hospital, reports RTE.
The family lost their home and are currently in emergency accommodation.
Ms Uwase said they cannot cook and are forced to spend their savings on takeaway meals each day, reports RTE.
They remain deeply traumatised; she said she becomes anxious at the sound of a fire alarm, while her mother fears that someone may still be “after” them.
Ms Uwase added she paid for her own counselling, saying she would “rather heal now than heal from it later”, reports RTE.
The family returned to the fire-damaged house this week, but all their clothes and shoes are gone.
They managed to salvage her college laptop and “a few things” like passports, reports RTE.
They also recovered the car keys for the family car parked outside.
The kitchen, living room, and bedrooms are “destroyed” and the house has been boarded up, reports RTE.
“We are so lost,” Amanda said, adding “we need support, everything’s completely gone”.
The family believes the attack could be linked to people in the area “we would call criminals” and may also have been racially motivated, reports RTE.
The house had previously been attacked and its windows broken in July of last year.
She said none of the family members have ever been in trouble.
Her father was at work the night of the attack and her mother works as a carer, reports RTE.
“We are very much peaceful people, we don’t bother anyone, we try and help people,” she said.
“My family are devout Christians. My parents don’t drink and we have been brought up to always treat people with respect, reports RTE.
“We don’t know why this happened to us, we didn’t do anything to deserve this,” she said.
“This wasn’t our fault, but we don’t feel safe returning to the area knowing that these people could be walking among us — in shops, when driving, or in the park,” reports RTE.
A fundraiser to assist the family has been set up on the website chuffed.org.
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