News

Four-year-old boy dies after Wigan house fire that also killed his father

The most heartbreaking update.

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 17th April 2024

A four-year-old boy has tragically passed away several days after a horrific house fire in Wigan.

His 45-year-old dad also died from his injuries on the day of the blaze, at around 2.30am on Sunday 14 April.

The young boy was rushed to hospital with serious injuries, but died in hospital earlier today.

Four other people received treatment following the house fire on Warrington Road at the weekend.

Local authorities do not believe there are any suspicious circumstances involved in the incident.

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And Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue are continuing to investigate the causes of the fire and are in regular contact with officers.

A GoFundMe page set up to support the family has named the father and son as Barry and Ethan Mason.

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Prior to Ethan’s death, it said: “Hello, my name is Jessica. Yesterday morning at around 1am my sister’s house went up in flames.

“Devastatingly we lost my brother in law and my beautiful little nephew has suffered over 86% burns to his body.

“The last thing this man did was to run back into a burning house and save his little boy.”

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It then detailed that Ethan had spent a long time in surgery and been placed in an induced coma, and was given only a 10% chance of survival. Tragically, he did not make it.

The GoFundMe continued: “We are all absolutely heartbroken, but my sister and her other children have lost absolutely everything.

“I have set up this go fund me to not only help with funeral costs but to help with clothing and other necessities for her other babies, and to help with the financial burden my sister will have to cope with on top of losing her husband and having her baby in hospital for god knows how long.

“Anything you can donate will be massively appreciated. Thankyou for reading and Love to all.

“Hold your babies a little bit tighter because you just never know.”

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The GoFundMe has already raised more than £33,000, at the time of writing.

Detective Inspector Lee Gridley, from GMP’s Wigan district, said: “This is a devastating incident and all of our thoughts are with the family of this young boy, who had his entire life ahead of him.

“Together with the earlier death, this is a tragedy for the Wigan community and I know that many people will be shocked by this heartbreaking news.

“I hope people will join us in sending their absolute best wishes to all those involved in this incident, as they begin their journey in the healing process.

“While we are not treating the incident as suspicious, if anyone has any information they believe is important, please do get in touch with us. You can do this by calling police on 101, quoting log 393 of 14/04/2024.”

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The family have asked for their privacy as they come to terms with their loss, and have asked for people to respect their grieving process.

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Featured image: GoFundMe

News

Beloved plant-based independent street food business Herbivorous is set to close imminently

Danny Jones Danny Jones Herbivorous shutting down Manchester Sheffield York

We hate writing this, but we have news of yet another local hospitality closure as beloved Manchester-born and pioneering plant-based brand Herbivorous has confirmed they’ll soon be calling it a day.

If you can hear us sighing through the screen, apologies – we’re just getting really fed up of saying farewell to our favourites, so god knows how rubbish those involved feel.

This comes in the same week that fellow animal-free food vendors and Manc icons Desert Island Dumplings announced they will also be saying goodbye in a matter of months.

Unfortunately, in the case of Herbivorous, we’ve got mere weeks before their sites across the North shut for good. Just gutting.

As you can see, the team behind the multi-location vegan street food specialists began by writing: “It’s a long one so stay with me… It seems you can’t open social media at the moment without reading about another hospitality business closing down.

“Throughout 8 years of Herbivorous years we’ve come up against many challenges from Covid 5 years ago to watching all the big vegan brands from London and beyond come to Manchester and largely disappear again to the closure of Hatch our busiest site, but with continually increasing costs its becoming really difficult to maintain a thriving business.”

Herbivorous started out life back in 2016 as a cult hit at the old outdoor food, drink and entertainment hub centring around a ‘container village’, the first of its kind in the city and soon to reopen under new owners and a new name.

Since then, co-founders Robyn and Damian have gone on to expand not just to one permanent site over in Withington but with outposts in Sheffield and York, having gained a strong reputation with stalls and pop-ups all over.

Their hospitality story might not have the ending we personally would hope for, but it’s been a brilliant one for so many foodie fans – us lot included.

Nevertheless, they go on to add in the emotional statement that external pressures such as a recent bereavement and their own ever-growing family have also contributed to the decision which, despite being an understandably hard one, “feel like the right time.”

“We are so incredibly proud of how far we’ve come from spending long days slinging duck wraps from our green vintage horse box at festivals to three Herbi locations across the North of England”, they continue, “and with that we’ve also met so many fantastic people!”

“Whether you worked for us at a few festivals over [the] summer or for years at our restaurant, we just wanted to say and massive thank you! The memories will stay with us forever and, of course, how can we not mention our fabulous customers!

“Thank you all so much for choosing Herbivorous over the years. Those of you who had our food at Festivals and then found us at one of our permanent locations, those of you who came back week after week to Hatch, Spark, Withington and beyond.”

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They signed off by detailing their final business days, with their Sheffield Kommune spot having already shut for refurbishment; meanwhile, their spot in SPARK York will be wrapping up on Saturday, 19 April.

As for their flagship brick-and-mortar venue here in Greater Manchester, Herbivorous Withington will be shutting on Friday, 25 April.

Once again, there’s nothing we can say other than thank you for years of delicious food, that we’re guttted to see you go, and that everyone at The Manc Group wishes you the best whatever comes next.

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — The Manc Eats

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AJ Tracey is playing a VERY intimate gig in Manchester next month

Thomas Melia Thomas Melia

London rapper and respected grime artist AJ Tracey is ‘live and direct’ once again, announcing a whole host of UK dates, one of which is a rather intimate gig right here in Manchester.

It’s official: one of UK rap’s leading gents is getting back on the road and he’s showing a ‘Little More Love’ to lots of cities, including Manchester.

In a post on the UK star’s socials, AJ Tracey trades his music persona for that of a sports pundit as he announces the dates for his upcoming tour while impersonating an F1 commentator.  

Anyone looking to attend Tracey’s ‘Not Even A Tour’ can catch the star up and down the country on his over 20-date tour with a stop in Manchester as soon as this month.

The rapper has reached phenomenal heights since dropping the unforgettable ‘Ladbroke Grove’ in 2019 and is heading out across the nation to make sure everyone knows about it.

Get ready to spit bars left and right as this rapper’s discography is stacked with serious tunes like ‘Dinner Guest’, ‘West Ten’, ‘Thiago Silva’ and more.

More recently, he collaborated with Walsall’s finest Jorja Smith for a flirty garage beat also known as ‘Crush’ with the video being the two artists talking it out in a good old fashioned caff.

The latest collaboration with Smith marks the start of a new era for Mr. Live and direct as it fell in line with the announcement of his third studio album.

Titled Don’t Die Before You’re Dead, we’re sure he’ll be “building a vibe” wherever he goes and probably previewing a few exclusive tracks from his upcoming project too.

Wait until you hear where he’s playing too…

AJ Tracey is playing a VERY intitmate gig in Manchester this month.
Credit: @AJTracey on Instagram

This gig may come as quite a surprise for any hardcore fans of the ‘Ladbroke Grove’ star as the venue in which he’s performing is definitely intimate only, holding just over 250 guests.

This rap giant is bringing his unbelievable beats to none other than the legendary small-cap city centre live music venue, The Deaf Institute, at the end of this month.

It’s safe to say you won’t get many more chances, if any, to see him in such a tight-knit space again.

AJ Tracey is bringing ‘Not Even A Tour’ to Deaf Institute in Manchester on 30 April, with tickets on sale Friday 4 April from 12 noon.

You can get ready to grab yours HERE.

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For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — John Lubbock (via Wikimedia Commons)/Audio North

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