NSW: Post mortems carried out on Queanbeyan fire bodies

AAP General News (Australia)
08-18-2000
NSW: Post mortems carried out on Queanbeyan fire bodies

Post mortem examinations will today be carried out on the bodies of two people killed
in a suspicious fire in southern New South Wales yesterday.

Queanbeyan Police Inspector MARTIN WOOKEY says the bodies of the dead couple were taken
to Glebe Coroner's Court overnight.

Three small children were left orphaned after the early morning house fire in Queanbeyan
yesterday.

Four police officers have been credited with saving the lives of two of the youngsters,
braving the flames at the height of the inferno to drag them from under a bed in a smoke-filled
room.

The blaze is believed to have been deliberately lit, with police sources saying detectives
are investigating the matter as a murder-suicide.

The dead couple's eldest child is believed to be responsible for raising the alarm
by calling triple 0 shortly before 6am (AEST).

AAP RTV km/nf/wz

KEYWORD: BLAZE (SYDNEY)

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