THREE people died today in a fierce fire which ripped through a flat above a restaurant. Emergency services were alerted to the blaze in High Street, Chatham, shortly after 1am.

No names or details about those who perished have so far been revealed but early reports suggested the victims were a mother, a father and their four-year-old son.

Some people managed to escape from the four-storey building as the fire raged but the three bodies were found and two injured people were taken to Medway Maritime Hospital.

Around 80 firefighters from all over the county were called in at the height of the blaze.

Police imediately began an investigation. Three people were in custody this morning.

A police spokesman said: “We are treating the fire as suspicious.”

The fire began in a flat above a restaurant called Blaze. It was a Turkish barbecue-style restaurant which opened less than a month ago. The owner previously had a restaurant in Luton Road.

Police cordoned off a stretch of the High Street and closed many of the surrounding roads including Medway Street, Gundolph Road and Manor Road. Rush hour jams were soon building up on the main roads.

The girlfriend of a man who lived in one of the other flats said he had woken up to find his flat filled with smoke.

Kevin Wright’s girlfriend, Sophie, said: “Kevin woke up to find his room was filled with smoke. He got up to open the door and the handle was red hot. He went to the window and was told to jump but was eventually rescued.”

Mr Wright was wearing only tracksuit bottoms and someone at the nearby nightclub Pulse lent him a pair of shoes before he was taken to hospital for treatment for inhaling smoke.

FULL STORY IN TODAY'S MEDWAY MESSENGER

KM-Fm spoke to Divisional Fire Officer Martyn Adams at the scene...