Siblings killed in house fire named

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Ben McAuliffe, aged eight, and Stephani Wojak, 15, died after being rushed to Torbay Hospital following the fire which broke out at their home in Ellacombe Church Road at 10.30am on Saturday.

Ben was a year four pupil at Coombe Pafford Special School and had learning disabilities. His sister, Stephani, was a pupil at Westlands School in Torquay.

Floral tributes have been left outside the house which has been gutted by the blaze. A police cordon still surrounds the road which is likely to remain closed. The fire is being investigated by police and fire experts.

Their mother, father and another sibling were also helped from the house and taken to hospital for treatment. The house is not thought to have had a smoke alarm.

Witnesses described desperate attempts by neighbours to get at the family after fire broke out in the two storey mid-terrace house in Ellacombe Church Road. It developed in the ground floor of the property and quickly spread, blowing out the doors and windows of the blackened house.

Neighbours helped the parents and a child escape before firefighters arrived and rescued the teenage girl and eight-year-old boy from an upstairs bedroom. The boy died soon after being taken to Torbay hospital, and the girl succumbed later from her injuries.

Paul Slaven, from Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service, said: "Crews arrived within minutes of the call and were faced with an extremely well developed fire in the ground floor. The fire was fierce and developing rapidly, flames were coming out of the windows on to the street. There were lots of distressed people, and neighbours were trying to help by knocking down the door."

He added: "Crews tried everything they could to rescue the boy and they are distressed about what happened. Our thoughts go out to the family, it is a very tragic situation."

Fire investigators and police are now trying to establish how the fire started. Mr Slaven said: "We have launched a joint investigation with the police and that is likely to go on for some time."