The fire service said 11 fire engines and specialist appliances were involved with bringing the blaze under control at its height.

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The girls' father, Mohammed Riaz, who is believed to work at a plastics factory in Blackburn, survived the fire but is in a critical condition in the specialist burns unit at Manchester's Wythenshawe Hospital after being resuscitated by firefighters.

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Coastguard officers attended to the man while a specialist fire service mud rescue team used water lances to free him.

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