Five arrested after three children die in suspected arson attack

Police investigating a suspected arson attack that killed three people in Salford have arrested four men and a woman.

Four fire engines were called to a street in Walkden, Greater Manchester, after the fire broke out at the house at about 5am on Monday.

A 14-year-old girl was declared dead at the scene and an eight-year-old boy and seven-year-old girl died in hospital. A three-year-old girl was said to be in a critical condition on Monday afternoon, while a woman, 35, who is understood to be the children’s mother, was in a serious condition.

Police are yet to formally identify the victims, but the mother and her 14-year-old daughter have been named locally as Michelle Pearson, 35, and Demi Pearson.

Drew Povey, the headteacher at Harrop Fold school in Little Hulton, where Demi was a pupil, said: “We are devastated at the tragic loss of life today in our community. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family involved.”

Greater Manchester police said they had arrested three men, aged 23, 20 and 18, and a 20-year-old woman on Monday on suspicion of murder. A 24-year-old man is also being questioned in custody on suspicion of assisting an offender.

Police had previously urged a murder suspect to hand himself in, saying there was “an active manhunt” to find an individual who they did not name. “All I would say is he knows who he is and he should give himself up immediately,” said Ch Supt Wayne Miller. “I would ask that person to do the right thing.”

Authorities confirmed there were seven people in the house when the fire broke out and that two 16-year-old boys escaped as walking wounded. One of the boys is understood to be a family member and the second a friend.

“In what is such a heartbreaking set of circumstances, we have been doing our very best to support the family in every way that we can and carry out our inquiries quickly and sensitively,” said Miller.

On Monday afternoon, the Manchester Evening News reported that police were investigating the possibility that a flammable liquid had been poured through the letterbox of the mid-terrace house.

It was also reported that police had been called to a separate incident at the property at about 2am, three hours before the fire. Greater Manchester police confirmed that it had referred itself to the Independent Police Complaints Commission, as is standard practice after someone dies after contact with the police.

The scene of the fire on Jackson Street was cordoned off on Monday, with a metal police barrier at one end of the street. The red brick mid-terrace house could be seen with burned-out windows, and forensics officers were working inside for most of the day. Neighbours reported having been woken by sirens in the small hours of the morning.

Speaking to reporters earlier on Monday, Miller said: “I want to describe what this incident is. It’s the murder, using fire, of three children and we have a three-year-old girl fighting for her life who is seriously ill. This will devastate this family forever and words cannot describe what they are going through. We need the public’s help to find the answers the family deserve.”