Police in Australia have charged a 28-year-old man with murder following a house fire in Sydney that killed three children, including a five-month-old girl.
The man allegedly set fire to the home while his partner and her seven children were inside, according to media reports.
Police earlier said that he frustrated their attempts to get into the property and that they were treating it as a "domestic-related homicide".
The unnamed man, under police guard in hospital, has been charged with three counts of murder, five counts of attempted murder and of destroying property with intent to endanger life, New South Wales state police said in a statement.
The matter will be heard in court today and the man is expected to appear via a link from his hospital bed, police said.
Emergency services were called to the suburb of Lalor Park, about 35km west of Sydney city centre, at around 1am on Sunday (4pm on Saturday Irish time) after a fire ripped through a house.
Two boys, aged two and six, and a five-month-old girl, were killed. They are yet to be formally identified.
A 29-year-old woman and three boys, aged four, seven and 11, and a nine-year-old girl were taken to hospital.
The woman has since been released and the children remain in a stable condition.
