Girl, nine, and father killed in West Yorkshire house fire while sister, 11, fights for life

A nine-year-old girl and her dad have died after a fire broke out in a house in West Yorkshire.

Emergency services were called to the scene just before 6.20am on Sunday after they received several phone calls about the blaze in Russell Close, Heckmondwike.

Firefighters removed a man and two girls from an address on the road.

The man was pronounced dead at the scene while the two girls, aged nine and 11, were taken to hospital.

The youngest girl died in hospital yesterday. The 11-year-old sister remains in a critical condition, West Yorkshire Police said.

Detective Inspector Paul Greatorex said: ‘We are continuing to work with colleagues at the fire service to investigate this dreadfully sad incident which has resulted in a father and daughter losing their lives.

‘Extensive enquiries have been ongoing since yesterday and we have been working to locate and support relatives of the victims both here and outside of the UK at what is clearly an awful time for the family.

‘While our enquiries remain ongoing we do not believe there are any suspicious circumstances regarding the cause of the fire and will be preparing a file for the coroner in due course.

‘Our support for the family involved clearly also still continues.’

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service confirmed that three people were retrieved from within a property and two were taken to hospital.

The service is working with police to establish the circumstances surrounding the fire.

Got a story? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. Or you can submit your videos and pictures here.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

Follow Metro.co.uk on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news updates. You can now also get Metro.co.uk articles sent straight to your device. Sign up for our daily push alerts here.