CORONER CALLS FOR HOOVER TUMBLE DRYER SAFETY REVIEW

Coroner Martin Fleming has called for a safety review of a Hoover tumble dryer after a house fire killed Sohaib Ahmed and his daughter Manahal in Heckmondwike, West Yorkshire. The fire broke out at their home on 8 June 2025. Fleming said an inquest in July found it more likely than not that a DX C10DCER-80 Hoover condenser tumble dryer was the source of the kitchen fire. Ahmed’s other daughter survived but suffered significant injuries.

A neighbour noticed smoke coming from the Ahmed home at 6.06am, the inquest heard. Firefighters arrived at 6.19am and found Sohaib Ahmed unresponsive behind the front door. They administered CPR to him and extinguished the fire at the rear of the property’s ground floor. They found Manahal on the floor of a rear first-floor bedroom, carried her outside and administered CPR. Fleming said the inquest could not determine how the dryer ignited.

In a prevention of future deaths report, Fleming said the Office for Product & Safety Standards had received a significant number of fire notifications from UK fire services involving the model. He said 1.6 million current Hoover and Candy condenser or vented tumble dryers may share its characteristics. Fleming warned that “circumstances creating a risk of future deaths may continue” unless authorities examine the model and any wider product safety implications. He suggested banning sales of the Hoover dryer while safety inspections take place.