A woman and her seven-year-old niece who died in a house fire near Middlesbrough have been named.
Natalie McDonald, 34, and Valentina Foster were killed in the blaze in Birchington Avenue, Grangetown – under a mile from the site of Saturday’s deadly wrong-way crash on the A66.
Cleveland Police have arrested two men, aged 23 and 31, on suspicion of murder following Wednesday’s fire, and the force has not ruled out a link between the two incidents.
Local Superintendent Emily Harrison said: “We continue to work to establish the circumstances of exactly what has happened, but we are keeping an open mind and cannot rule out any links to wider organised crime at this time.”
A neighbour named Ellie, 20, told the PA news agency how local residents tried to rescue those in the house. “The entire house was scorching,” she said. “I couldn’t get near the front of the house; it was that hot.”
A further four people were also injured: a 48-year-old woman is in hospital in a critical condition, and three people are receiving treatment for non-life-threatening injuries.
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Redcar MP Anna Turley said her “deepest condolences” were with the loved ones of those who had died and been injured, adding: “Our community has faced a profound amount of heartbreak over the past few weeks.”
The investigation into the A66 crash also remains ongoing. PCs Matthew Blades, 37, and Tom Clough, 38, were killed in the collision between a VW Passat – which was evading police and heading in the wrong direction – and a marked police vehicle. Five people in the Passat were pronounced dead at the scene at South Bank.
Originally reported by Sky News.
Read the original report at Sky News →
Source: Sky News.
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