Elderly women rescued from firebombed home

Two elderly sisters were rescued from their blazing home today after a petrol bomb was hurled through a front window into the lounge.

The women, who are Protestants, live in the Catholic Short Strand in east Belfast.

They were both upstairs when the attack happened at 1am.

A passing police patrol saw that the living room of the house, on Madrid Street, was ablaze.

Officers broke in and tackled the fire before leading the women, aged 73 and 79, outside.

The women were shocked but otherwise unhurt, said an RUC spokesman.