Peterborough house fire leaves man dead and woman critical

A man has died and a woman is in a life-threatening condition after a house fire in the early hours, police said.

The fire happened in Crabtree in the Paston area of Peterborough shortly before 06:00 BST.

The man was declared dead at the scene and the woman was taken to hospital.

Cambridgeshire Police said it was treating the incident as unexplained and was "keeping an open mind around the cause".

Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service said it was called at 05:47 and crews from several stations "arrived to find a well-developed fire at a terraced house".

A spokeswoman said: "Firefighters rescued two people from the property and performed CPR alongside the ambulance service.

"Sadly one man was declared dead at the scene and a woman has been taken to hospital in a life-threatening condition."

Crews left at about 12:00 and an investigation is under way.

Supt Neil Billany, from Cambridgeshire Police, said: "We are investigating this fire alongside the fire service to try to understand the cause of this tragic incident.

"We understand it may be concerning for local residents, but we are treating this as an isolated incident and there are extra police officers in the area today."

He urged anyone with information about the incident to get in touch with officers.

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