Image source, BBC/Yunus Mulla
- Author, Yunus Mulla and Rachael Lazaro
- Role, BBC News, Lancashire
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A man and woman have died and their two children have been injured in a house fire in Blackpool.
The fire broke out on Peter Street in the town shortly before 02:40 BST, Lancashire Police said.
A woman in her 20s died at the scene while a man, also in his 20s, was pronounced dead at Blackpool Victoria Hospital.
Their children were taken to hospital for treatment and one of them is in a “very bad condition”, police added.
Image source, BBC/Yunus Mulla
Detectives are working with firefighters to establish the cause of the fire at the family’s home.
Police said they were keeping an “open mind” at this stage about how this started.
He added that no arrests had been made.
A small number of homes have been evacuated while the investigation is carried out.
Officers will leave “absolutely no stone unturned” in the investigation, Chief Superintendent Mike Gladwin said.
He said his thoughts were with the family’s loved ones at this “extremely difficult time”.
“Simply tragic”
She said her sister-in-law alerted her to the fire after hearing a loud bang and they went outside.
“It’s something you can’t forget,” she said.
“The father was screaming, ‘Help, help,’ and we couldn’t help him because the fire was absolutely crazy.”
She then said that “everything went silent.”
“I’ll never be able to forget this. It’s just tragic.”
Image source, BBC/Yunus Mulla
Chief Superintendent Gladwin said “the tragic news will be met with great sadness in the local community and people will want immediate answers” but warned against “unnecessary and disturbing speculation”.
“There are grieving loved ones who are still trying to recover from this devastating news,” he said.
He appealed to anyone with information or who had recorded anything on their CCTV, doorbell or dashcam to contact police.
