Two children have died at a house in Stafford, with a woman arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with their deaths. The local community has been described as "really sombre" following the tragic incident.
Two-year-old Meraj Ul Zahra and three-year-old Abdul Momin Alfaateh were pronounced dead at a house in Corporation Street after Staffordshire Police were called at around 7:30am on Sunday. A 43-year-old woman from the Stafford area was arrested and remains in police custody.
Corporation Street has been cordoned off with police guarding each end of the road and traffic diverted. Flowers have been left near the police tape at both ends of the street overnight.
Community Response
Father-of-two Ben Lowe, who lives nearby, visited the scene on Monday morning to lay two bouquets of flowers. Speaking about the incident, he said: "It's sad, it's just really sad. I live 10 to 15 doors away, I've got two children myself."
Mr Lowe described the area as "very family-orientated" with many children living there. He said: "It's a friendly area, everyone says hello and I just felt it was important to mark a bit of respect for these kids. I don't know what's happened, but at the end of the day, two children have died and I think they should be respected."
When asked about the community's reaction, Mr Lowe added: "It's quite sombre, everyone is really sombre. People are carrying on, doing their thing, taking their kids to school and whatnot, but there is a very melancholy atmosphere."
Official Response
Leigh Ingham, MP for Stafford, described the incident as "absolutely heartbreaking news in our community" in a Facebook statement on Sunday. She said: "My heart goes out to the family affected in this case. Thank you as always to our tireless emergency services, who I know will be working incredibly hard to gather all the facts."
The MP asked people to "avoid speculation online" during the investigation. Police are appealing for anyone with information to contact them on 101, quoting incident number 147 of October 12, or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Sources used: "PA Media" Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
