Arson attack 'attempted murder'

Reports of explosion before flames emerged from flats

A man and a woman are critically ill in hospital after an arson attack on flats in Harlow, Essex, on Wednesday night.

Police are treating the fire in Sherwood House as attempted murder.

Three police officers were among the 10 casualties taken to the Princess Alexandra Hospital and 30 people were forced to leave their homes.

Eight people were rescued, most of them trapped by the smoke. Police are investigating reports of a petrol bomb exploding on the ground floor.

"Two of the people are very, very critically injured and we are treating it as attempted murder - if not a murder investigation," a spokesman said.

Specialist unit

The man has been transferred to a specialist burns unit. The woman remains the Princess Alexandra Hospital.

Police are carrying out a joint investigation with the fire service into the cause of the blaze, which has left the flats uninhabitable.

The ground floor had been gutted, the first floor severely damaged and the top floor has extensive smoke damage.

Essex Ambulance declared it a major incident and called for help from the Beds and Herts Service who sent two ambulances and paramedic teams who helped in the rescue.

Three men and two women as well the three police officers needed treatment after breathing in smoke.