Man and woman arrested after two children among four dead in Ireland house fire

Two people have been arrested by police following the death of two adults and two children in a house fire in Ireland. A man and a woman have been arrested after a blaze broke out in a two-story property on Birch Avenue, Waterford City on Tuesday morning. They are currently being held by police in a station in the east of the Republic of Ireland. Philip and Kim English and their two children, Callum, 12, and Jayden, nine, died in the fire. Two more children with critical injuries were taken to hospital in Dublin. Following the incident on Tuesday, they now remain in a critical condition in hospital in Crumlin. Police confirmed a man in his 20s and a woman in his 30s were arrested today as part of a murder investigation into the blaze. The force believes the fire was started deliberately. Waterford Fire Service received an alert about the fire at 5.13am on Tuesday, where crews from several nearby stations were dispatched to the scene. Firefighters immediately began to tackle the blaze and extract the family from the house. Once the fire had been extinguished, the scene was handed over to An Garda Síochána, which is continuing to deal with the incident. A gardaí spokesman said at the time: "An Garda Síochána are investigating all the circumstances of a fatal house fire that occurred in the Birchwood area of Waterford City shortly after 5am this morning. LATEST DEVELOPMENTS "Gardaí and emergency services remain at the scene. "An Garda Síochána can confirm two adults, one man and one woman, and two children are deceased. "Two other children have been removed from the scene and are receiving hospital treatment for critical injuries. Family liaison officers have also been appointed." Postmortems on the four family members who died in the fire have been carried out. However, the results for Mr and Mrs English and their sons are not being released due to "operational reasons". Taoiseach Micheál Martin described the incident as deeply disturbing. Speaking ahead of a cabinet meeting in Dublin, he said: "Our thoughts and prayers are with anybody who has lost their lives and all who are affected." Gardaí are appealing for information from anyone who may have been in the vicinity to contact Waterford Garda Station on 051 305300, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any garda station. Follow related topics: