Sea of tributes left at Wolverhampton house after deadly fire prompts murder probe

The scene remains sombre on Dunstall Hill, in Wolverhampton, where two women, believed to be in their 20s, lost their lives early on Saturday morning.

A cordon remains in place around the gutted property where, at around 2am on Saturday, more than 20 firefighters from across the Black Country tackled a blaze that killed the two women and left four people injured.

On Monday family members and friends sat in vigil, leaving both flowers and poignant messages, as well as playing prayer passages and songs from a nearby speaker, showing their respect for their lost loved ones.

At the scene, flowers lay next to the burnt building, each one placed by a tearful loved one who sat closely by.

Police and fire investigators continued to work at the scene, working hard to understand the events that led to the devastating fatal blaze.

Meanwhile a relative of the two women who were killed in a house blaze has paid tribute to the "beautiful" and "golden" sisters.

Zahid Shah, a former councillor and a family cousin, said the community was in shock over the incident in Dunstall Hill which left another woman in a "serious condition" and three other people hurt shortly before 2am on Saturday.

Mr Shah said: "My cousins were two beautiful girls. They were golden and had a lot going for them. They had jobs at shops in the area and were very well thought of, well brought up, respectful and humble.

"The family is quite tight

"It is a travesty what's happened. Other family members are wandering round like zombies. Everybody is devastated. We don't know what's happened and the police have not said to us about the investigation.

"I met up with one of the girls' uncles and he was just crying his eyes out."

It has now been confirmed that three people have been arrested in relation to the incident, two men, aged 19 and 22 were arrested within hours of the blaze taking place, and a third, another man, aged 46, was arrested a day later on Sunday.

It is believed that all three people arrested were known to the victims.

Following the arrests, a West Midlands Police spokesperson said: "We've arrested a third man as investigations into a fatal house fire in Wolverhampton continue. We're continuing to work with the fire service to establish the cause of the fire which happened just before 2am.

"As part of our enquiries two men, aged 19 and 22, were yesterday arrested on suspicion of murder. We have now been granted extra time to question them.

"We've now further detained a 46-year-old man, who is also understood to be known to the women, on suspicion of murder and he'll be questioned too."

The police cordon will remain in place while investigations continue, with Chief Superintendent Richard Fisher saying the force is "doing everything we can."

He said: "Two women have tragically lost their lives and our thoughts are with their loved ones at this deeply distressing time.

"We know how upsetting this is for everyone within the community, and we're working as sensitively as we can to find out the cause of this terrible fire.

"This is a very active investigation and it's important we do everything we can to get answers to what happened."