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Christchurch police are attempting to identify four people found dead after a suspicious house fire this morning.
Detective Inspector Greg Williams, of Christchurch CIB said the people who died in the fire appeared to be of Asian origin, but their ages were unknown.
"We have to identify them and advise next of kin," he said.
"This will be a complex investigation. Until we have formal identification we cannot comment on who they might be."
Mr Williams said it was not known when the bodies would be removed from the house or when post mortem examinations would be done. Police were likely to be at the house for several days.
Police earlier said they could not say for sure that no other bodies were in the house.
One neighbour, Rob Hempseed, told nzherald.co.nz he believed the house was occupied by three generations of an Asian family who had lived there for some time.
Mr Hempseed said the family, which included an elderly woman and some children, were always impeccably dressed and polite. He said they regularly played softball in a local park.
He said it was an older house set back from the road with an unkempt yard and was due to be converted into units. He said some renovations had recently been carried out.
Police said the fire itself was very small, causing only minor damage.
A number of detectives are at the scene and police are setting up a base in the central city to investigate the deaths.
The fire, which started at about 7.20am, was in Puriri Street off Riccarton Road. Firefighters found the bodies in the house and put out the blaze.
Police have erected cordons 200m deep around Puriri Street to keep away onlookers.
A resident of the street, who lives 100m from the fire site, had earlier said she understood the weatherboard house was recently sold and was now a rental property.
The woman said she did not know the tenants, but believed they were a family.
Another witness who had been near the house this morning said there was no obvious sign of fire damage.
The area is near Canterbury University and many homes in the area are occupied by students, though others are standard residential homes.
- with NZPA, NEWSTALK ZB
