Woman arrested after mother and young daughter killed in Milton Keynes house fire

A woman has been arrested on suspicion of arson after a mother and her young daughter were killed in a house fire, police said today.

The bodies of Bola Ejifunmilayo, 29, and three-year-old Fiyin (both pictured) were discovered at the property the day after the blaze broke out in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire.

Emergency services were alerted to the blaze at the three-storey house, in which several families lived, in the early hours of Sunday. Firefighters could not reach the pair because of structural damage to the property.

A 48-year-old woman, from Corby, Northamptonshire, was arrested last night, Thames Valley Police said.

She is being held in police custody and is also being questioned about an earlier disturbance at the house, in the Fishermead area of the city.

A firefighter was injured when the floor collapsed as he tried to reach the bedroom in which remains of Ms Ejifunmilayo and her daughter, both from Nigeria, were later found. He was treated in hospital for arm and shoulder injuries.

Crews from Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service had earlier rescued a woman from a bedroom window using a ladder. They were searching the property for other occupants when floors and ceilings started to collapse.

The service said they had done everything possible to try to reach the mother and child.

Milton Keynes Council said the house had not been licensed for multiple occupancy.

A spokeswoman said: "All councils have a responsibility to inspect and regulate any reported instances of houses of multiple occupation, and rely on information from a number of sources, including the public, to do so.

"We have not received any information about this property since we conducted our own investigation in January 2009 and were satisfied that it was occupied by a single family at that time."

Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service is examining fire safety precautions at the house.