Dad ‘kills two kids by torching family home before being rescued from burnt out car in murder-suicide bid’
Criminal investigation launched as police probe circumstances around deaths
THE DAD of two children killed in a suspected arson attack was rescued in a critical condition from a burnt out car just hours later.
Neighbours said the mum of the youngsters, named locally as Fasika and Tinesay, screamed in agony after their bodies were pulled from the blaze that ripped through the family home, early this morning.
This afternoon police said Endris Mohammed, who is in his 30s, was found in the wreckage of a burnt out Vauxhall in Staffordshire at 7.15am - four hours after his children's deaths.
DCI Martin Slevin said police are not looking for anyone else in connection with the fatal fire, which ripped through the hallway of the family's home killing a girl, six, and a boy, eight.
Residents describing the scene of the tragedy said they were woken by screaming in the early hours of this morning.
Emergency services, helped by neighbours, desperately tried to save the youngsters after being called to Holland Road in Hamstead at about 3.40am.
Neighbour Adam Adkins, 42 said: “I was woken up at about 3.45 this morning and I thought teenagers were messing about at first.
“It was a horrible noise and then I heard the mother wailing.
“I looked outside the window and saw all the blue lights and saw a very small body lying on the grass in front of the house.
“The fire crew were doing CPR for what seemed like a really long time.
“It must have been at least 20 minutes.
“Both children were lying on the grass and there was a figure, I think it was the mum, hunched over them, wailing.
“It’s terrible. They are a quiet family who have been there for a few years. They were just normal kids. Happy, lively and full of energy.
“The parents seemed like nice people."
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West Midlands Ambulance Service said bystanders had already started CPR when they arrived at the scene.
The youngsters were rushed to hospital but shortly after they arrived it became clear nothing could be done to save them.
Their exact cause of death is not known at this time and a post-mortem will be carried out.
A woman was also assessed by the ambulance service at the scene but had not suffered serious injuries.
A spokesman for West Midlands Fire Service said 13 firefighters battled the blaze, and officers remain at the scene, working with police to establish its cause.
The children's father was found 40 miles away from the scene of the fire in the Butterton area of Newcastle-under-Lyme.
Det Chf Insp Slevin added: "We believe these two incidents are connected and we are not looking for anybody else in connection with the fire here.
"At this stage we are still trying to establish what exactly took place.
"The mother of the children is helping the police to try to and give us that information.
"She is being supported by specially trained officers.
"We would appeal for any witnesses that saw a black Vauxhall Insignia in the Hamstead area of Birmingham or in the Butterton area of Newcastle-under-Lyme this morning.
"We have no information as to what the cause of this fire is and what led to the tragic deaths of these two young children but our sympathies are with the family, friends and community at large over this tragic incident."
Police can be contacted on 101 or information can be passed anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
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