Six children and two adults were found dead in a house fire in Oklahoma on Thursday (Picture: AP)
Eight people died, including six children, in a house fire that police are investigating as a homicide.
The deadly fire broke out around 4pm on Thursday in Broken Arrow, a residential suburb outside of Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Witnesses told investigators from the Broken Arrow Police Department that two adults lived in the home, alongside six children.
The two adults were found killed with ‘significant injuries.’ The incident is being investigated as a murder-suicide.
Police and fire department investigate the scene of a fire with multiple fatalities at the corner of South Hickory Ave and West Galveston St in Broken Arrow (Picture: AP)
Firefighters were able to contain the fire to one room in the back of the house, which they identified as the room of origin. When the fire was sufficiently suppressed in the room, they discovered the bodies of the six children.
The six children were between the ages of 1 and 13. They were all found in the one bedroom and origin point for the fire.
‘It became obvious to all the personnel on scene that this was a crime scene,’ Broken Arrow Fire Department Chief Jeremy Moore said. ‘Our crews moved to preserve the evidence and preserve the crime scene.’
Moore continued: ‘At this time we do not believe that any of the victims died from the fire. However, the final determination for the cause of death will be made by the medical examiner.’
ATF agents assist with the investigation into the Oklahoma fire and homicide (Picture: AP)
Police could not confirm if the victims were injured by gunshot wounds, but they did confirm that they recovered firearms from the household.
‘Preliminary reports are that this is going to be a homicide investigation,’ police spokesperson Ethan Hutchins said. ‘We’re still focused on trying to put out the fire and also investigate what happened to these victims.’
Hutchins described the incident as a ‘complex scene.’ The intense fire damaged or destroyed much of the home.
Police said that that this incident, possibly the first homicide in Broken Arrow this year, is an isolated event with no additional threat to the public.
People look on as Broken Arrow as police respond to the deadly fire (Picture: AP)
‘This is a shock to Broken Arrow. It’s a safe city,’ Hutchins said. ‘Broken Arrow doesn’t have this kind of situation every day.’
‘Broken Arrow stands together,’ Police Chief Brandon Berryhill stated on Thursday. ‘We will mourn together, and in the end we will heal together. Please pray for for those who have lost their lives, and for our first responders who are dealing with a tragedy of this magnitude.’
Neighbors said it sounded like a transformer exploded, before descending into ‘pure chaos,’ Channel 2 News Oklahoma reported.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms and the Broken Arrow Fire Department are assisting with the investigation into the deadly fire.
Earlier this year, a deadly fire in a Bronx apartment building killed 19 people, including nine children.
In August, another deadly house fire killed seven adults and 3 children in Nescopeck, Pennsylvania. Three generations of a family were killed in the deadly blaze.
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Police are investigating the incident as a murder-suicide.