A man and woman – reported to be an elderly couple – have been hospitalised after a fire was deliberately started at their home.
The suspected arson attack took place at a house in Liverpool in the early hours of the morning.
Police are appealing for witnesses or information as they investigate the incident in Old Swan – the same area of the city where council worker Ashley Dale was shot dead in her garden just weeks ago.
Officers were called to reports of a fire at a property at around 3.20am on Thursday.
A man and a woman were taken to hospital with smoke inhalation and other injuries, according to Merseyside Police.
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“It’s terrible that this couple were in bed and this happens. They are an elderly couple,” an eyewitness, who did not want to be named, told Liverpool Echo.
The same eyewitness told the newspaper it was an attack involving a petrol bomb.
Merseyside Police said reports and examinations had established the fire was “caused deliberately”. The Independent has contacted the force on claims a petrol bomb was involved.
The fire took place on Dorien Road in Old Swan neighbourhood of Liverpool.
A spokesperson for Merseyside Fire and Rescue said crews arrived to find “fire damage to the front door” but the blaze was already out.
Ms Dale was shot dead in her garden in Leinster Road in the same area of Liverpool last month, with a third person arrested on suspicion of murder this week.
Dorien Road is also a half-hour walk away from where nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel was fatally shot in her home earlier this month.
Merseyside Police said it has launched a joint investigation with Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service in connection with the fire.
It urged anyone who witnessed the incident or with any infomation to contact us by DM on Twitter @MerPolCC or Facebook ‘Merseyside Police Contact Centre’ using reference 22000649658.
Alternatively, they can contact the independent charity Crime stoppers anonymously, on 0800 555 111 or online.
