A father has begged forgiveness for not being by the side of his two young children when they died in a house fire .

Jake Symons, 21, has been barely able to speak since being told his two kids — Maddison, 20 months, and Desmond, five months — were killed in a fire at the family home on Thursday.

Family friend Mathew Chilly, 36, and a teenager whose name has not been released, also died in the Central Queensland fire.

The devastated father, who was undergoing cancer treatment, posted emotional and loving tributes to his children.

“Dad’s best little mate,” Symons wrote on Facebook alongside a photo of Desmond.

“I had so many things I wanted to show u and watch u grow. We’ll have that vb and kick the footy around in the next life - won’t be long.”

He described his “little Maddi

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