Man and woman die in Withington house fire

A man and a woman have died in a house fire in Withington.

Emergency services were called to Parsonage Road shortly before 2.30am this morning, Friday 10 February 2017, to a report of a house fire. A man and a woman sadly died at the scene. Their next-of-kin have been informed but formal identification and post-mortems are yet to take place. Three girls and one boy aged between 10 and 17 were taken to hospital where they are being treated for their injuries. A man was also taken to hospital and he remains in a serious condition. A joint investigation with GMFRS has been launched to establish the cause of the fire.

One neighbour, who didn't want to be named, told KEY103, "I was in bed asleep when I was woken by extremely loud screams. I heard loud bangs and lots of commotion. One woman came out of the house shouting there was a fire and that the kids were in the top bedroom. The 17-year-old girl jumped out of the window. The fire was so bad you couldn't see. The other kids managed to jump from the window. They were all traumatised and not speaking. They are a Palastinian family who moved in about two years ago. A really nice, pleasant family. I myself am traumatised."

Detective Inspector Tony Lea of GMP's City of Manchester Team said: “My thoughts are with the family of the man and woman after such a tragic incident and we have specially-trained officers supporting the family at this time. “We are continuing to work closely with GMFRS to establish exactly how this fire started and I urge anyone who may have witnessed the fire, or anyone in the area in the hours before the fire. “If you have any information at all contact police as soon as possible so we can piece together what happened.” Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101 quoting incident number 140 10/02/17 or the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

A spokesperson for the fire service has said:

"Four fire engines went to the address and firefighters wearing breathing apparatus tackled the blaze using hose reels.

"Police and ambulance colleagues also attended the incident.

"The cause of the fire is due to be investigated later on today jointly with Greater Manchester Police."

A number of road closures are in place.