An eight-year-old girl has died while a woman is missing and feared dead after a blaze engulfed a row of inner-city townhouses for almost an hour on Sunday.
Firefighters raced to the set of townhouses on Bayside Court in Thorneside, in East Brisbane, about 7.15am following reports of a home on fire.
They managed to extinguish the blaze about 8am but not before three of the townhouses had been ravaged by the inferno, with the roof of one collapsing.
Queensland Police chief inspector Karl Hahne said the body of an eight-year-old girl had been found inside that townhouse while a woman remained missing.
‘However, we are of the strong belief that person is also in the fire scene,’ he told the Courier Mail.
‘Efforts were made to enter the premises and extinguish the fire. There was some support from neighbours, people surrounding it, to get it under control.’
Smoke was still billowing from the smouldering scene of the tragedy on Sunday afternoon.
A Queensland Ambulance spokesperson said paramedics had also treated a man for smoke inhalation at the scene of the fire and that he was in a stable condition.
A Queensland Fire Department spokeswoman said the blaze had been brought under control by about 8am, with neighbours commended for fighting the fire until services emergency arrived.
A crime scene has been established, with a full search of the property delayed until it can be stabilised due to the severe damage caused by the fire.
Local State MP Don Brown said he was at the scene of the ‘awful house fire’ on Sunday morning and extended his condolences to the ‘family and the community’.
‘I am currently in contact with the minister’s office and organising community support through the department,’ he said in a post to Facebook.