Guyana man torches house, kills wife, kids

A businessman has allegedly burned down his house and shop in northwestern Guyana, killing his wife and four children who were trapped inside.

One of the man's daughters, aged 12, rushed to a nearby police station on Friday evening to warn her parents were fighting and that her father had threatened to set the house alight, Guyana Police Force spokesman Ivelaw Whittaker said.

Responding officers found the building on fire.

"Suspecting that persons were inside, (they) attempted to enter the building but (were) prevented from doing so by a locked grill door," police said.

The township of Port Kaituma does not have a fire station and efforts to extinguish the blaze with buckets and other containers failed.

The 50-year-old businessman has been arrested. He sustained burns to his body and is under guard in hospital.

The bodies of his wife, 39, daughters, 14 and 3, and sons, 8 and 1, were found later.