Three sisters orphaned in a fire which gutted their Waimate home, claiming the lives of their mother, father and younger brother, have recounted the horror they endured during a daring escape.
Tulsi Kafle, 24, and her sisters Manisha, 17, and Matamata, 11, were sleeping in the same room when the fire ripped through their home above an Indian restaurant they operated on the town's main street.
The girls are now staying with an uncle in Christchurch and told reporters how they escaped through a window, but couldn't contact their father Tej, 48, mother Tika, 38, or brother Prem, 8.
Manisha described the panic as the room filled with smoke, saying she "couldn't see anything".
"I was sleeping in the bed at that moment, and then my sister woke up and opened the door. They were shouting out […] 'Mum, Mum', and I was just wondering what happened there," she said.
"My older sister, she broke the window, and then we get out from there. I wanted to save my parents and I went to the room again to find my phone.
"After that I called my Dad, but he didn't answer it, so after I called 111."
Tulsi, the eldest of the three daughters, managed to break a window with her arm and ushered her sisters out onto a balcony.
"I shout loudly, and I called my Mum and Dad. And what to do – I haven't any idea, and I broke the window and I got out," she said.
"[I shouted] 'Help! Help! Help!', and someone came from outside. But we couldn't save our parents.
"We are really sad. […] Every moment we are crying and remembering them."
The girls were hospitalised with cut and smoke inhalation injures but escaped serious harm.
Waimate is rallying to support the family and a mayoral fund has been set up to accept donations for the girls. Bank transfers can be directed to the ANZ account 01-0893-0081636-00.
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