A fire that destroyed a family home and saw a city mosque evacuated at the weekend has “brought everyone together”, a community leader has said.

Firefighters were called shortly after 11am on Sunday, June 15, to a blaze on the third floor of the Bashir Ahmed Masjid in Portswood Road.

The Echo understands an electrical fault caused flames to emit in one of the four apartments above the mosque belonging to a family of five, before thick smoke engulfed the building.

Following the incident, the mosque has remained open, with the building structurally intact, despite water seeping through some of the walls.

Speaking to the Echo, Sayfullah Nasir, Imam at Bashir Ahmed Masjid, said: “Both me and my co-Imam live nearby, one of my neighbours came knocking on my door and said, ‘your mosque is on fire,’ not knowing what had happened, so I grabbed whatever I could and rushed down here.

“I could see all the smoke and the first responders were here straight away, hosing down the blaze.

READ MORE: 'Shock' after fire at Bashir Ahmed Masjid in Southampton

Fire damage to Bashir Ahmed Masjid in Portswood (Image: Newsquest) “There’s been a lot of speculation as to what caused the fire, we spoke to the fire fighters, and they confirmed the cause of the blaze was an electrical fault. It could be a vape battery, a mobile phone battery, any device that overheats, we’re not sure.

“These things affect a lot of people, and it’s brought everyone together, it makes you appreciate the value of human life.

“A family of five live in that apartment and the eldest son suffered some blisters because of the heat but he was treated by paramedics and fortunately there are no serious injuries or lasting marks.

“We’re trying to rehouse the family affected and we managed to salvage some of the items from their flat.”

One day on from the fire, Portswood ward councillor and cabinet member for green city and net zero, John Savage, visited the mosque and praised the resilience of the community.

He said: “There was such a prompt response from the emergency services, which I’m really pleased with.

“From my point of view, it’s so important that the people of Portswood and Bevois have really come together and shown their support.

“There’s a really positive community here who are very resilient, it’s tragic what happened here but maybe it can bring everyone even closer together.”

In a statement, a spokesperson for Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service confirmed the incident was “not being investigated and is not being treated as suspicious.”