Essex Police this afternoon held a press conference following the death of four children and their mother in a suspicious house fire.
Three children - two boys aged six and 11, and an 12-year-old girl, along with their mother, were declared dead at the scene of the fire in Barn Mead in the early hours of this morning.
Two other children were taken to hospital with severe burns, one of them, aged nine, has since died.
Assistant chief constable Gary Beautridge addressed the media at Essex Police Headquarters, Chelmsford, this afternoon:
Those who died are believed to be Sabah Usmani, 44, a doctor at Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, her sons Sohaib,11, Muneeb, 9, and Rayyan, 6, and daughter Hira, 12.
The other daughter, Maheen, 3, remains seriously ill in hospital.
Their father, Dr Abdul Shakoor, is also in hospital suffering from smoke inhalation, having fought to save his family from the blaze.
Crews also found a car on fire close to the scene of the blaze.
The car was not owned by the family involved in the fire, but is also being investigated as arson.
