Second man accused over blaze deaths

British police have charged a second man with the murders of seven members of the same family, who died after an arson attack on their home in Huddersfield.

The 22-year-old Asian male is due to appear before Huddersfield Magistrates Court charged with seven counts of murder, a West Yorkshire Police spokeswoman said.

Two adults and five sisters, aged between six months and 13 years, died when the blaze swept through their terrace home in Birkby, in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The spokeswoman said detectives were continuing to question two Asian men in their 20s. Eight other Asian men who were being questioned have now been released on police bail, the spokeswoman added.

Those who died in the fire were: Mohammed Ateeq-Ur-Rehman, his sister Nafeesa Aziz and her five daughters; Tayyaba Bootall, 13, Rabiah Bootall, 10, Ateeqa Nawaz, six, Aneesa Nawaz, two, and Najeeba Nawaz, six months.

Flames swept quickly through the mid-terrace house and despite emergency workers arriving at the scene within minutes, only four of the 11 people home at the time managed to escape.

The house belongs to the girls' grandfather, former Muslim religious leader Adbul Aziz Chishti, who escaped from the flames. Earlier this week Mr Chishti, 65, made an emotional appeal for information.

His wife, Zaib-u-Insa, is said to be in a "very poorly but stable condition" at Leeds General Infirmary. Another man, Mohammed Shafique, is being treated at Wakefield's Pinderfields Hospital for burns.

The girls were believed to have been visiting their grandfather from Pakistan with their mother. They had been in Britain for a number of months. Their father, Rab Nawaz Khan, flew to Britain, yesterday.