May 14, 2002	Tuesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 1, 1423

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LONDON, May 13: Police have arrested four people in connection with an arson attack which killed seven people, including five young sisters and their mother from Pakistan who were on holidays to Britain.

West Yorkshire police told Dawn here that all the four arrested men are of Asian origin, aged between 19 and 25. The men are being detained at a police station in Huddersfield where the incident took place early on Sunday morning.

The police said the motive of this horrific incident is not known yet while full investigations are under way.

Bodies of the victims had now been removed from the terraced house and taken to a mortuary where official identification will take place.

Detective Superintendent Bob Bridgestock of West Yorkshire Police, who is leading the investigation, said the incident was being treated as murder.

The house was owned by a former Muslim cleric of Pakistan origin whose daughter, on a visit to Britain, and her five daughters perished in the blaze.

One of his sons, aged 19, is also among the dead. Police and forensic officers were trying to establish if a fire accelerant had been used in the attack.