Six children among eight people killed in house fire as arson experts investigate 'suspicious' blaze

A family of eight have tragically been killed in a “suspicious” house fire in Michigan, USA, including six children aged between five and 15.

Fire crews were called to the house between 8.30am and 9am yesterday morning, after receiving reports of a strong smell of smoke.

Emergency responders arrived at the home in the affluent area of Grand Haven Township, on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan.

Local police are investigating whether the tragedy was a murder-suicide, after some of the victims were found with gunshot wounds.

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Captain Jacob Sparks of the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office described the incident as “suspicious”, but added it was “too early to say that it’s a murder-suicide”.

“I can tell you that that’s one theory that we have and we’re still looking to see if we can verify that", he added, with police probing whether “other means” were involved.

He said: “It would be premature for me to say what caused their deaths."

Autopsies of the bodies will take place later today to further determine the circumstances of the incident.

“It’s a complicated scene, a complex scene,” Captain Sparks added.

He said investigators were not looking for outside suspects beyond the family, who all lived in the home and appeared to be deceased.

Police said there was reason to believe the fire was intentionally set, with Michigan State Police arson investigators assisting on scene.

Grand Haven Township has a population of near 18,000 and is 25 miles west of Grand Rapids.

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It comes just days after five children were killed in a tragic house fire in Peru, as 10 people were found dead aged between just three and 72-years-old.

The victims were all members of the same family from Lima, Peru, police chief Oscar Arriola confirmed, as the country's president-elect Keiko Fujimori called the deaths “a terrible massacre”.

At least 17 members of the family were in the building when the fire started at 3am local time on Wednesday.

Five children, aged three, six, six, eight and 15, were found dead after the fire was extinguished.

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