The deaths of three people in a fire at a Cornish hotel are being treated as murder after police confirmed they were investigating an arson attack.
More than 80 people escaped from the Penhallow Hotel blaze in Newquay on 18 August last year.
Peter Hughes, 43, of Cheslyn Hay, Staffs was killed as he tried to rescue his mother Monica, 86. Joan Harper, 80, from Stoke on Trent, was also killed.
Inquests have been opened and adjourned into all three deaths.
Detectives said painstaking inquiries by fire service investigators and independent experts had established the fire was started deliberately.
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"Somebody else may have knowledge of this, even if they were not involved. We need them to come forward," he said.
When the fire broke out at 0015 BST, the hotel was close to capacity with 86 guests, three members of staff and a coach driver in the building.
Fire crews had to withdraw when parts of the structure gave way, before the four-storey hotel was later demolished.
(BBC)
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