Two arrested after five children die in British house fire

British police arrested two people on suspicion of murder after five children died in a house fire in the central English city of Derby.

British police arrested two people on suspicion of murder after five children died in a house fire in the central English city of Derby.

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"Sadly I can now confirm that five children have died, and their ages range from five to 10 years," said assistant chief constable Steve Cotterill of Derbyshire Police.

Detectives are keeping an open mind about what caused the fire yesterday, he told a news conference.

A 28-year-old woman and a 38-year-old man were arrested separately on suspicion of murder.

Cotterill said two adults and a sixth child, aged 13, were being treated in hospital, after emergency services were called to the semi-detached house early Friday. The teenager remains in a critical condition.

The children's father was named in media reports as 57-year-old Mick Philpott, a father of 17 who made headlines in 2007 when he appeared in a television documentary about welfare made by 1990s prisons minister Ann Widdecombe.

He demanded that local authorities give him a larger house to share with his wife, girlfriend and eight of their children.

Philpott had made a "valiant attempt" to rescue the children, who had been sleeping on the first floor, Cotterill said.

Some 30 firefighters had battled to put out the fire and save the children's lives.