An innocent woman is dead, and two offenders are on the run after an arson attack that police believe targeted the wrong house. The 27-year-old died in the blaze which destroyed a three-storey townhouse in Melbourne’s west. A warning, this story contains some graphic footage.
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00:00A towering inferno engulfing a Trugganina townhouse in what police believe is a botched
00:10arson attack.
00:11These offenders have targeted the wrong address, which is nothing short of a tragedy.
00:17CCTV from a neighbouring house shows a car on Dover Street just after 2am.
00:23One person gets out as the car pulls up.
00:26Minutes later, the blaze erupts, quickly engulfing the three-storey house as the offenders
00:31speed away.
00:32The flames so intense, firefighters were unable to rescue a young woman who was looking after
00:37the house.
00:38It's probably her first time really away and by herself, house-sitting for her brother
00:43who's on a honeymoon and she's been subjected to the most appalling, despicable act one
00:51could imagine.
00:52Trapped inside, the 27-year-old woman raised the alarm herself, frantically calling triple
00:57zero for help.
00:59Emergency services arrived just minutes later, but the fire had already taken hold.
01:05Neighbours today revealing they desperately tried to contact the young woman trapped inside.
01:09I didn't expect fire next to me, it's a huge fire.
01:13One of the neighbours does have a contact and had a contact number so we tried to reach
01:17them but there's no response from their phone.
01:19The family has been contacted, they are clearly, obviously and utterly devastated.
01:25Investigators are searching for the two offenders who they believe attacked the wrong house.
01:30They have deliberately, from what we've seen, jumped over a fence and targeted this premises.
01:36I believe targeted the wrong premises and now we're looking for two murderers.
01:42Detectives say the young woman was completely innocent and there are no criminal links to
01:47her family or to the home.
01:50Police are stumped as to the motive but they're unequivocal about one thing, this was an arson
01:55attack with tragic consequences.
01:58This girl did not deserve to lose her life.