Father, 3 children die in Italy fire that may have been set

ROME – Italian news reports say a Moroccan father and three of his four children have died in an apartment fire in the northern lakeside city of Como.

The ANSA news agency reported Friday that social service agencies had been keeping an eye on the family, which lived in a subsidized flat.

A neighbour told Sky TG24 that the 49-year-old father wasn’t able to work because he needed to care for the children and the mother had been hospitalized for psychiatric problems.

Without citing sources, ANSA said fire crews found flammable material inside the apartment, suggesting the blaze might have been set intentionally by someone there.