Probe after two children die in fire

A murder investigation has been launched after two young children died and a woman was left critically injured in a fire at a flat in Nottingham.

The blaze broke out in the first-floor flat of a twostorey building in Fairlisle Close, Clifton, at around 3.17am yesterday. A woman, thought to be in her 30s, and two children, aged three and one, were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation before being taken to the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham.

The two children were pronounced dead at the hospital, Nottinghamshire Police said, while the woman remains in a critical condition.

Detective Chief Inspector Greg Mcgill said a joint police and fire service investigation had concluded that the fire was started deliberately.

"These are tragic and very sad circumstances," he said. "Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service we have established that the fire was started deliberately.”