Mother and child found dead inside burnt out unit
THE bodies of woman and a child have been found inside a burnt out Biggera Waters unit complex following a devastating fire overnight.
Undertakers have retrieved the two bodies believed to be those of a woman and her young son who were unaccounted for after the early morning blaze in the Back Street unit complex.
The cause of the fire is not yet known but police have established a crime scene.
One neighbour wept as the bodies were brought out to a waiting hearse.
Forensic testing will be carried out to confirm their identities as investigations continue.
The fire engulfed the Back Street unit complex at Biggera Waters about 1.30am this morning.
Police and rescue crews have managed to get inside the unit this afternoon to make the horrific discovery after heat and asbestos made it too dangerous to enter the complex to check for bodies earlier this morning.
Neighbours heard yelling at the time the blaze broke out.
The ferocious blaze was extinguished just before 6am this morning, with police, fire crews and investigators on site into the afternoon.
Neighbouring units were evacuated at the time of the blaze and one male in his 40s was treated for possible smoke inhalation and transported to a medical facility nearby in a stable condition for precaution.
A neighbour, Debbie, who wanted her surname withheld, said she knew some of the residents who lived in the burnt out unit.
"It's just horrible and you don't expect to be woken at night to something like this," she said.
"My housemate is hysterical because she saw it all happen, she is just devastated."
Another local in the street, Liz Lanini, was woken to sirens and knew "something bad had happened".
"There is definitely an eerie feeling in the air this morning," she said.
"I just knew something really bad had happened."
No other patients have required QAS assessment or treatment.
A crime scene was declared at 1.45am as officers work to establish the cause of the blaze.
Investigations are continuing.
Unit complex in Biggera waters burnt down In a mass of explosions not sure if people made it out . . Hopefully everyone is out safe and uninjured
Posted by Aileen Rowe on Friday, 10 April 2020
Originally published as Mother and child found dead inside burnt out unit
