THE investigation into the cause of the blaze which claimed the life of a nine-year-old boy could continue for the next few days.

Forensic experts from the fire service are sifting through the remains of the end-of-terraced house on Bury New Road, The Haulgh, hoping to find out what set the living room alight.

Mobeen Ahmed, who was severely autistic, died and his two younger brothers, Rahman, aged four, and two-year-old Ibrar, were seriously hurt.

They are in a critical but stable condition at the North Manchester Children's Hospital, Pendlebury, following the fire on Saturday afternoon.

Their mother Nargis had run into the house three times to drag out her sons. Neighbours and police officers from the nearby station on Castle Street also helped in the rescue.

As reported in the BEN, Nargis had worked hard to help Mobeen learn to communicate with his family thanks to a pioneering teaching system called Facilitated Communication.

The Green Fold School pupil enjoyed a one-to-one session with Australian autism expert Dr Rosemary Crossley who was visiting the North-west earlier this year.

He had started to learn how to spell simple words and phrases using cut-out letters and cards, but his mother had dreamt that he would one day be able to hold a spoken conversation with her.

A spokesman for the fire service said: "The investigation is on-going and could continue for much of the week.

"In all serious incidents like this we ensure we do all we can to find out what happened."

Early indications were that the investigation would centre on the gas fire in the living room of the family house.

Firefighters who arrived at the scene said the blaze was "like a blowtorch".