London, April 24: A 17-year-old was arrested today in connection with a house fire that claimed the lives of two young children in Derbyshire, northern England.
Police said a 23-year-old woman managed to jump to safety with her eight-month-old baby from a rear bedroom window in the blaze, which erupted in the town of Buxton, about 45 miles east of Liverpool, at 11.45pm (local time) on Friday.
However, two children – a five-year-old girl and a two-year-old boy – were killed.
Assistant Chief Constable Steve Cotterill from Derbyshire Police said the 17-year-old was in custody and would be interviewed later today.
He added the cause of the fire was not yet known, but it was being treated as suspicious.
Revealing the chain of events leading up to the fatal blaze, the officer said police received a non-emergency call from the 23-year-old woman – named locally as Fiona Adams.
“This was in connection with nuisance behavior and noise at the rear of the property,” Constable Cotterill said.
“Two officers from Buxton police station attended this call within 16 minutes of it being received.
“One officer spoke with her, a second officer conducted a search. Nothing was found.
“We are now looking at the possibility of a connection between the first call and the fire that happened.”
—Agencies