A second body has been found at the site of a fire in Batley, six days after the blaze broke out at a building on the corner of Warwick Road and Mount Street.
West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service was called to the scene just after 3am on Saturday 15 August, and a scene has remained in place ever since while specialist police and fire service investigators continue their enquiries.
A first body was discovered in the rubble of the building on Wednesday 19 August. Detective Chief Inspector James Entwistle, of West Yorkshire Police’s Homicide and Major Enquiry Team, said at the time that the discovery would be “concerning for local residents and the wider community,” but reassured the public that a dedicated team of officers and specialist investigators were working to establish exactly what had taken place.
A second body was then found and recovered by the fire service on Friday 21 August. Both bodies will be subject to a post mortem, and work continues to formally identify each of them.
Detective Inspector Tom Hilyer, also of the Homicide and Major Enquiry Team, described it as “a complex investigation” and said all necessary resources were being used to determine what happened. The cause of the fire itself remains under investigation.
Anyone who witnessed anything unusual, or who has CCTV, dashcam or mobile phone footage from the area — even a small detail — is asked to contact West Yorkshire Police via 101 or online, quoting reference 13260464916, or to submit information anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
