Capel St Mary house fire leaves two dead Published duration 2 October 2019

image caption Fire devastated the semi-detached house in Chapel Close

A man and a woman have died in a house fire in a Suffolk village.

Fire crews were called to the semi-detached house in Chapel Close, Capel St Mary, just after 08:00 BST today.

Suffolk Fire Service area commander Ian Bowell said crews had made attempts to enter the house, and the blaze had affected a neighbouring property.

"I'm sad to say two people have lost their lives this morning and we have a community in a state of shock," he said.

More than 60 firefighters tackled the fire and roads around the scene will be closed off for much of the day.

image caption Police officers have closed surrounding roads

Mr Bowell said the fire service would "leave no stone unturned" in establishing the cause of the blaze.

"At this moment we have no indication that this was suspicious, it appears to be a tragic occurrence," he told the BBC.

"It is a very serious incident for us to deal with.

"We got a call to a house fire and en route learned that there were people inside, so the first crew's efforts were to try and rescue those people.

"We were confronted with flames coming out of most of the windows and doors."

image copyright Google

Witness Karen Rodrigues described feeling "helpless" as flames tore through the building.

"I awoke to hear people shouting for help, I looked out and saw smoke coming from the property," she said.

"The flames were very intense, you could see it raging through the house."

Police have confirmed that no one else was injured in the fire and the deaths are being treated as "unexplained".