Murder hunt after boys die in pub blaze

Police have launched a murder hunt after two young boys died in an arson attack at a pub.

Christopher Knight, 10, and his half-brother, Charlie, five, died when a fire tore through the Prince of Wales pub in Stoke Newington, north London.

Joe Knight, aged three, Charlie's full brother and half-brother to Christopher, and eight-year-old Vicki Chaundi were said to be "in an extremely serious and critical condition" after the blaze.

A man in his 30s, identified only as Lance, who rushed through the burning building to rescue two children, was also critically ill.

An 11-year-old girl was released from hospital after suffering smoke inhalation.

The five children had been asleep upstairs in the pub in Neville Road, Stoke Newington, when the fire broke out.

Detective Chief Superintendent Jon Shatford, who is leading the investigation into the blaze, said traces of an accelerant, possibly petrol or white spirit, had been found in the living accommodation doorway where the fire had started.

"We have launched a murder investigation in respect of this fatal fire. We have identified traces of an accelerant used within the living accommodation doorway which funnelled upstairs.

"The fire broke out somewhere within the front doorway where the living accommodation is, which was at the foot of the stairs.

"It seems that the fire was focused on going up the stairwell to where the children were apparently asleep in their beds."

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