THREE young children died earlier today after a blaze through a terraced house.
Emergency services were called to an address at Boothroyden, in the Lancashire resort of Blackpool, at around 4.35am.
They found the corner house, two streets behind the Hilton Hotel on Blackpool's north shore, well ablaze.
A spokesman for the Lancashire Constabulary said it was believed there were seven children, their mother, father and grandmother trapped inside the house.
They were taken to Blackpool Victoria Hospital where three of the children, and their ages are not yet known, were pronounced dead on arrival. Their pet dog also died at the scene.
The children who perished in the fire included boys of four and five, and a child of eight.
A police spokesman said the four other children in the house ranged in age up to their late teens, but no names have been released.
Lancashire Police and fire and rescue services are still at the property which has been completely gutted by the blaze.
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