Six people were rescued after a suspected arson attack on a block of flats in Belfast today.
All of them, including a Chinese family, were trapped in the three-storey building on Eglantine Avenue in the south of the city. The building was split into six flats.
Fire crews were called to the scene at 2.00am and discovered the victims on window ledges screaming for help as thick smoke engulfed the building.
All six people needed treatment for shock and slight smoke inhalation. None of the injured required hospitalisation.
The fire is believed to have started on a mattress dumped in a ground-floor escape corridor. Bundles of papers had been put on top of it, according to a Fire and Rescue Service spokesman.
The PSNI are investigating a possible racist motive for the attack.