Hinckley Road explosion that killed five 'started after shop was doused in petrol'
The Hinckley Road explosion that killed five reportedly started after the shop was doused in petrol.
Three men have appeared in court charged with the manslaughter of five people after allegedly starting a fire.
Arkan Ali, 37, Hawkar Hassan, 32, and Aram Kurd, 33, were arrested after an explosion destroyed a Polish supermarket and two-storey flat on February 25.
Four of the people killed in the blast have been named as Shane Rajoobeer, 18, Sean Rajoobeer, 17, Leah Beth Reek, 18, who was Shane’s girlfriend, and Viktorija Ljevleva, 22.
The fifth victim killed in the explosion on Hinckley Road, Leicester, is believed to be Shane and Sean’s 46-year-old mother Mary.
The trio appeared at Leicester Magistrates’ Court to face a separate count of arson with intent to endanger life and were not required to enter any pleas.
Ali and Hassan, wearing grey sweatshirts and Kurd wearing a black hooded top, looked straight ahead as they followed proceedings through a Kurdish interpreter.
MOST POPULAR TODAY ON YAHOO
Thousands of homes across UK left without water as thawing temperatures bursts pipes
Jamie Oliver says poverty-stricken obese Brits eat badly because they think ‘in a different gear’
Firefighters push stranded woman through snow and ice after electric wheelchair breaks down
Falling into a black hole ‘would erase your past but give you infinite possible futures’
UK far-right groups a growing threat as they prepare for ‘civil war’ between the West and Islam
Another man in his 40s from East Anglia was arrested on Sunday also on suspicion of manslaughter.
Two men, also from East Anglia, were arrested in connection with the incident on Friday but have since been released under investigation.
On Monday, Ali, of Drake Close, Oldham, Hassan, of no fixed abode and Kurd, of Hillary Place, Leicester, spoke only to confirm their name, age and address during a 30-minute hearing.
The three men were remanded into custody by magistrates until a further hearing on April 3 at the city’s crown court.