Lathan and Langston McDaniel: Twin boys die in Nashville house fire as mother watches in horror

Twin boys, aged four, have tragically died in a house fire while their mother and younger sister watched on in horror.

Lathan and Langston McDaniel were at their Nashville, Tennessee family home on Monday when the fire broke out early in the morning, WTVF reported.

Fire crews rushed to the scene in the 2000 block of Arbor Pointe Way, and found the boys’ mother, Jessica McDaniel, and her youngest child, Lexi Rose McDaniel, outside the burning house.

She told the firefighters that her twin boys were still inside on the second floor, and they rushed in to rescue them.

They found Lathan and Langston and brought them out of the house, but they had been exposed to extreme heat and smoke.

Kendra Loney, a Nashville Fire Department spokesperson, said: “The smoke was already going into the gables of this home and the top area, which is also the attic portion.

“The smoke and flames were moving (so) rapidly at this point, that mother was unable to go back into the home.”

First responders attempted to treat the boys, but sadly, they both died at the scene.

The home was completely destroyed, only the very front remains in-tact because of a sprinkler system.

Youth services have launched an investigation into Lathan and Langston’s deaths and are being assisted by the local authorities.

Ms McDaniel and Lexi were taken to hospital but have since been released and are not expected to suffer any long-term physical health complications.

The local community has banded together to show their support for the young grieving family.

Lacey Corbitt, a close friend of Ms McDaniel’s, said the twins were “micro-preemie survivors” and “had a lot of health challenges during their lives”.

“Despite all the doctors and specialists and surgeries and therapies, they were absolutely the lights of our world,” she said.

“Words cannot express the grief and despair this whole family (and the village it has taken to love and support them well) are currently experiencing.”

She has launched a GoFundMe to help the family replace all of the belongings lost in the fire.

“I am trying to assist this family in renewing all that they have lost that is possible to replace,” she wrote.

“We will never be able to get back their beautiful miracle twins, but maybe we can try to help replace all that has been lost.”

Tributes are flowing for the boys and their family on social media.

“So heartbreaking and sad. Sending sincerest sympathy to the family,” one Facebook user wrote.

“The micro preemie journey is an intense one, full of its own heartbreak. My heart goes out to everybody who knew the sweet boys. I am a micro preemie mum myself. I feel so deep for this mama,” another wrote.