Rafał Guz/PAP

Local prosecutors suspect that a man killed himself and three of his children by setting fire to his house in eastern Poland.

Prosecutors in Bialystok launched an investigation on Tuesday into an incident that took place in the town of Choroszcz on Sunday in which four people died. Their main hypothesis is that a 45-year-old man set fire to his own house after a family dispute, killing himself and his three children, aged three, eight and 10.

Before the incident, police had received a call reporting a family dispute. After the call, the man’s wife left the home.

Later, she called the fire brigade after seeing her house was on fire. Fire-fighters managed to bring all four out of the house, but they were all declared dead.

“The act has been recorded in a way that suggests that the murder was committed by setting a fire,” PAP was told by Bialystok prosecutor’s office spokesman, Lukasz Janyst, referring to official reports into the blaze.

A container with a substance likely used to start the fire was found at the scene of the tragedy.

Forensic experts will now try to determine the cause of death of the four people.