KEY POINTS
- Two of the three children found unconscious in their burning house on Sunday died in hospital.
- It took crews 30 minutes to retrieve the siblings, two girls aged five and one, and a boy aged three, from the home.
- The two girls died Wednesday morning surrounded by their family. The boy remains in critical condition.
Two out of three children in Melbourne’s northwest have died, almost three days after being rushed to hospital.
Emergency services were called to the brick property in Sydenham on Sunday evening to discover smoke and flames coming from the roof.
It took firefighters up to 30 minutes to collect the siblings – two girls aged five and one and a boy aged three – before they were taken to the Royal Children’s Hospital with serious injuries.
The two girls died surrounded by their families in hospital on Wednesday morning, Victoria Police said in a statement Wednesday evening.
The boy remains in critical condition.
Detectives from the Arson and Explosives Squad are investigating the fire, including determining who was at the property at the time of and just before the fire.
The boy’s father told reporters Tuesday that the three children were “happy little kids” and must have felt “petrified” during the ordeal.
