PSNI officers investigating a suspicious fire at a block of flats rented by Chinese families have ruled out a racial motive.
The fire is thought to have started when a burning mattress was placed on the ground floor of the three-storey house in south Belfast, which has been converted into six units.
Firefighters rescued six people trapped in the upstairs flats at the property, on Eglantine Avenue in the Lisburn Road area, early yesterday.
They arrived to find dense smoke in the ground floor hallway and people trapped in the upstairs flats. Officers used ladders to rescue them while fire teams put out the fire in the hallway.
Ashley Jeffries of the Fire and Rescue Service said it was fortunate that fire alarms were working at the flats; otherwise "we could have been talking about fatalities".
He told the BBC: "A mattress was located in the rear escape corridor. What seems to have been a lot of papers was placed on it, so we are treating it as suspicious."
An investigation began into the suspected arson attack.
The PSNI said: "Upon further investigation into a malicious fire in the Eglantine Avenue area, detectives have ruled out a racial motive and are continuing to appeal for information."