Eight-year-old girl dead and woman missing after Queensland mansion fire | Queensland

An eight-year-old girl has died and a woman is missing after a townhouse in Thorneside, south of Brisbane, caught fire on Sunday.

Queensland police told ABC reporters at the scene that they had “a strong belief” that the missing woman had been in the house when the fire broke out and would not have survived.

Emergency services were called to the fire, which damaged three separate townhouses, at around 7.15am. By the time it was brought under control, about 40 minutes later, the roof of one of the townhouses had collapsed.

Queensland Police Service, Ch. Insp. Karl Hahne, told reporters that the first one was “burning very hot” when firefighters and police arrived.

“Attempts were made to enter the building and extinguish the fire,” he said.

“There was some support from neighbors and people in the area to get it under control.”

The body of the eight-year-old girl has now been recovered.

“Tragically, we found one deceased individual on the property,” Hahne said.

“One person is still missing, but we strongly believe that person is also in the fire.”

Paramedics also treated a man for smoke inhalation.

An investigation is underway into the cause of the fire and efforts are underway to locate the missing woman.