A 31-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder following a flat fire that killed two children in Nottingham on Sunday.
The fire took hold on the first floor of a two-storey residential property in Fairlisle Close, Clifton, at around 3.17am on Sunday, Nottinghamshire Police said.
Despite medical attention at the hospital, the two girls aged one and three, were pronounced dead. A woman was also critically injured.
Fire crews tackled the blaze, and the flames were extinguished at around 4am. Neighbouring buildings were temporarily evacuated during the incident.
Detective Chief Inspector Greg McGill, who is leading the investigation, said: “This is a deeply tragic incident and we have a large team working tirelessly to understand the full circumstances.
“Whilst we have now made an arrest, the investigation remains at an early stage and we are continuing to appeal to anyone who has even the slightest bit of information, or even CCTV or dash-cam footage, to please come forward.”
A local resident, who asked not to be named, was alerted by a fire engine’s lights while watching a film, and then saw smoke billowing from the rear windows of the first-floor flat.
He told reporters: “I saw the blue lights and smoke was coming out of the top windows.”
The eyewitness said the older child was brought out of the property first, with the one-year-old being carried out by a single firefighter shortly afterwards.
Estimating that CPR was then carried out at the scene for around 20 minutes, the man added: “It was dark and raining and with the smoke I couldn’t see what was happening behind the fire engine.
“It’s sickening. I feel so sorry for the family. How is she going to feel when she finds out she’s lost the children?”
Nottingham City Council leader, Cllr David Mellen, said: “I am so saddened to hear this tragic news. The loss of two young children is completely heartbreaking.
“We’ll do all we can to support the family and community at this deeply upsetting time.”
Inspector Ben Lawrence, who has led reassurance patrols in the local community following the fire, added: “These are clearly very sad circumstances and our thoughts continue to be with the family of those involved.
“This has also been an extremely traumatic event for the local community, especially for neighbours who have been left shocked and deeply saddened by the deaths of two very young children.
“We’ve increased reassurance patrols in the area and if anyone has any concerns we’d encourage them to speak to one of our officers.”
Anyone with information that could assist the investigation is asked to submit it to the Public Portal (mipp.police.uk).
If you would prefer to speak to police, please call 101 and ask for Nottinghamshire Police, quoting incident 0110_20112022, or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or through their anonymous online form at www.crimestoppers-uk.org
