10-year-old Paige Bolton passed away after a house blaze allegedly started by her dad.
She died in hospital in Cottingham, Hull.
Her father, Garry, is believed to have barricaded not only himself but also Paige in a bedroom before starting the fire, said a devastated friend.
The single father sent ‘strange’ messages to a friend weeks before and said that he had ‘nothing to live for.’
Emergency services arrived at the scene after a neighbor reported the blaze.
A heartbroken friend said that Garry, who was split from his daughter’s mom, Cherie, had been ‘struggling’ during the past weeks.
“Garry and his partner lost a baby at birth, it was Paige’s twin brother,” a friend said to The Sun Online. “Recently he had lost his job and was having financial struggles and after Christmas he seemed really down spirited.
“He told my fella he was going through a bad patch and apart from Paige he said he had nothing really to live for.”
Another friend revealed: “I think he had been struggling with mental health issues, he had sent my dad some strange texts recently.
“They were really close and used to work together. My dad rang him up and he said he was fed up and then this has happened.
“He’s barricaded himself in and set fire to the house with his daughter.”
According to neighbors, Garry quit his job to concentrate on his daughter. They were shocked that both Garry and his daughter tragically passed away.
60-year-old Carl Goodfellow, one of the rescuers, said: “It’s just a tragic event. He was devoted to his daughter, we’d see him taking her to school every day and we’d say hello but that was it really.
“I heard shouting this morning and saw smoke coming from the upstairs window. I tried to break the door down but it was too strong.
“I was banging on the door and shouting to get their attention, but it was to no avail sadly. My heart just goes out to the immediate family who have to deal with this tragic incident.
“The whole street is in shock, it’s a quiet, close-knit community and you just don’t expect something like this to happen.”
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