Police have described a fire that spread through a residential tower block, killing six people including a three-week-old baby, as “potentially suspicious”.

Three adults and three children died in the blaze, which started on the ninth floor of the council-owned building in Camberwell, south London, before engulfing most of the other levels.

Yesterday five of the victims were named as Helen Udoaka, 34, and her baby daughter Michelle; Dayana Francisquini, 26, and her son Filipe, aged three; and Catherine Hickman, 31, a fashion designer.

The remaining victim, whose identity has not yet been released by police, is understood to be Francisquini’s six-year-old daughter Thias.

Last night Francisquini’s husband, Rafael, who was at work when the fire happened, was inconsolable. “I’ve lost my family,” he said. “They were everything I had.

“It’s a very bad time. We are speaking to the police at the moment and trying to work out exactly what happened.” Police said all of the dead were on the 11th floor of the block when the fire broke out on Friday afternoon.

Dayana and Filipe Francisquini and Michelle Udoaka died in hospital after they were evacuated by fire crews, while the three other victims died in the inferno. Yesterday their remains were being retrieved from the burnt-out building.

Twelve other people were taken to hospital, including a fireman who was still receiving treatment last night. His injuries were thought to be minor.

Mark Bailey, a hair stylist, revealed yesterday that he had intended to propose to Hickman, his girlfriend of three years, on his return from a trip to America.

“I am not a religious person, but I was praying I’d get to see her to tell her I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her,” Bailey told The Sunday Times. “She knew that I loved her.”

Bailey said Hickman, who grew up on a farm in Hamp-shire, worked for a west London boutique designing and making dresses. “She would refashion or remodel beautiful vintage dresses,” he said. “She would make specialist bespoke garments for celebrities, too.” A police spokesman said although there was no evidence to suggest the fire had been started deliberately, it was being treated as “potentially suspicious” until the cause could be established.

Residents of the Screaux Gardens estate, where the 1960s-built Lakanal House tower block is situated, described the 14-storey building as a “death trap” which should have been torn down.

They pointed out its dilapidated state, with continuously broken lifts and rubbish strewn throughout a single central stairwell which did not provide an adequate method of escape in the event of fire.

Some residents said that smoke alarms installed inside the building’s flats seven years ago were poorly maintained and there were no warning systems in the corridors and communal areas.

Ed Hammond, 37, an accountant who lives on the seventh floor of the tower, said the flats were “death traps”.

“If the fire is in the central area, you would virtually have nowhere to go,” he said.

Witnesses told how the fire spread rapidly. Cojo Masophe, 24, said: “At around 4pm I saw a lot of smoke and heard glass smashing. I was on the third floor, below the fire. We ran down the stairwell to get out but it was already filling up with smoke.

“When we were outside I saw a man and woman trapped above the fire, screaming. The guy was trying to make a rope out of bed sheets but it didn’t work.

“He was getting desperate and was going to jump but people said, ‘Don’t do it’. A woman on the seventh floor was holding her baby in the air screaming ‘help me, help me’.” Harriet Harman, the deputy prime minister and MP for Camberwell and Peckham, visited the scene of the tragedy yesterday and said the block’s safety record would have to be “carefully scrutinised”.

Boris Johnson, the London mayor, said: “It does seem suspicious that the fire was spreading so quickly and clearly that will be one of the prime subjects for the investigation.

“Obviously we will want to know . . . whether there was any malign intent.”

Nick Stanton, the Liberal Democrat leader of Southwark council, said he “understood and shared the concerns” of residents.

He added: “The whole block was extensively refurbished two years ago, but there is a limit to how much a borough council like Southwark can do.”

Additional reporting: Kevin Dowling

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