The Met Police said a 41-year-old man was arrested outside the properties on suspicion of murder and remains in custody, as a mother and her three children have been killed in a house fire in Brent, north-west London.
The emergency services were called at about 01:20 on Saturday to the blaze in Tillett Close, Stonebridge, where they found the victims — a 43-year-old woman, a 15-year-old girl and two boys aged eight and four, reported BBC.
Two terraced three-storey homes were gutted in the fire. The Met Police said that another woman in her 70s and a teenage girl, both from the same family as the four people who died, were taken to the hospital. Their conditions have not been disclosed.
“Devastated to see the fatal fire at homes in Tillet Close last night,” Dawn Butler, the local MP for Brent East, said in a social media post.
She added her “prayers are with the family and friends affected” by this “very sad tragedy”.
Supt Steve Allen said in a statement on Saturday afternoon that the woman who died had been confirmed as the mother of the three children.
About 70 firefighters and eight fire engines from stations across Wembley, Park Royal and Willesden were sent out to tackle the blaze, which was reported by neighbours.
‘Extremely tragic incident’
One woman, who said the family had moved to the UK from Pakistan more than 20 years ago, told the BBC that after hearing smashing and screaming, she had gone out to find the building next door was on fire.
Mohamed Labidi, a 38-year-old teacher who lives in Tillett Close, said he could not “even look at the house right now”.
Speaking to the PA news agency, he said he had known the woman who died, and that the family were “really good people”.
“We used to socialise together,” he added.
Another neighbour said she was “stunned by the devastation” of the blaze.
Another resident, who did not wish to be named, said: “It’s a very distressing time for us and the neighbourhood.”
In a statement, the London Fire Brigade (LFB) said: “A woman and a child were rescued from the second floor of one property by crews wearing breathing apparatus and received immediate emergency care.”