A BOY of 13 says he owes his life to his pet dog – after he was saved from a raging fire in his home.

Despite raising the alarm, which kept young Aaron Sandhu alive, Staffordshire bull terrier Khan, died only moments later.

Aaron had been woken by the animal barking and jumping on top of him while he was taking a nap at the family home in Beresford Road, Northfleet.

Meanwhile, the downstairs area of the property was becoming an inferno after a faulty tumble-dryer caught fire.

The dog’s actions almost definitely saved Aaron, as the batteries had been removed from the family’s smoke alarm.

Speaking after the incident, which damaged most of the downstairs and smoke-logged the entire house, Aaron’s father, Jaswinder, said: “If it wasn’t for Khan, my boy would have been dead. We have lost most of our possessions, but we are more devastated about losing the dog.”

Jaswinder, 40, said he had popped out to the shops for about 15 minutes. When he returned, Aaron had crawled out on a windowsill, and was crying out for help.

Several neighbours were alerted by his cries and tried to persuade him to jump down – but he refused to come down without his dog.

Moments earlier Khan had escorted his young owner towards the staircase to make their escape but the smoke was too thick to make it out safely.

They then made their way into the master bedroom, where Khan fell unconscious on the bed. Aaron tried to lift him up but he was too heavy.

Neighbour Philip Thompson, 53, rushed to get an old loft ladder from his home which Aaron climbed down. But it was too late for Khan. The dog was found dead by firefighters shortly afterwards.

Aaron was taken to Dartford's Darent Valley hospital where he stayed overnight. He went to visit Khan’s body as soon as he was released.

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