A United States woman suffered a terrible tragedy after all five of her children died following a horrific fire on her birthday.

34-year-old Sabrina Dunigan, a single mother from St Louis, Missouri tried bravely to save the children but it was to no avail. All five of her children – between the ages of two and nine – died.

According to media reports from the United States, Dunigan left her five children in her one-bedroom apartment briefly to pick someone up.

When she returned home, she found her apartment engulfed by a terrible fire. Firefighters say when Sabrina returned, she tried to rush into the apartment to save her children but had to be restrained as the flames were too great at this point.

The St.Louis Post-Dispatch identified the victims as nine-year-old Deontay Dunigan, seven-year-old twins Heaven and Nevaeh Dunigan, four-year-old Jabari Johnson, and two-year-old Loyal Dunigan.

Five crews of firefighters rushed into the building and found two children dead and three unconscious on the floor. Two of the children passed away as they were rushed out of the property and the fifth died on the way to the hospital.

The children’s maternal grandparents, Greg Dunigan and Vanicia Mosley – were sleeping in a sectioned-off room away from the kids. They couldn’t save the children because of the growing flames and eventually jumped out the window.  Residents of the three other units in the building managed to safely escape.

Speaking after the devastating tragedy, Sheila Dunigan, the mother’s aunt, told KSDK

“Sabrina cared for her kids. She loved those kids and we all loved those kids.

“Our family has never taken a hit like this, ever. We are devastated. We are broken.

“People are judging my niece. Please, don’t judge her. Pray for her, that’s all I’m asking right now.”

The Dunigans moved into the apartment five months ago after their previous home was also destroyed in a fire.

In an interview from October of 2019, Sabrinna told local news her abusive ex-boyfriend had set fire to a previous apartment.

Investigators from the fire department are still working on figuring out the cause of the fire.