UPDATE: Two men have been charged in connection with an arson attack which killed a mother and father and left their three children orphans, police said tonight.

Peter Bowden, 39, from Lytham St Annes, Lancs, and Imran Ali, 29, from Manchester, will appear in court tomorrow charged with murder and arson with intent to endanger life following the house fire on London Road in Blackburn last week.

Muslim cleric Abdullah Mohammed, 41, was killed as the flames ripped through the family’s terraced home on October 21.

His wife Ayesha, 39, was critically injured and died in hospital on Wednesday, a week after the attack.

Their daughter Siddiqah, 14, remains stable at the University Hospital of Manchester.

Nine-year-old Muhammad has been released from hospital and is with his extended family.

Another son, Ashraf, 18, a student at Bradford University, was away at the time of the fatal attack.

The charges come days after detectives made a public appeal to trace three men spotted at the scene at the time of the blaze.

Police have said they are puzzled why anyone would target a Muslim family “well-respected” in the local community.

Mr Mohammed owned a convenience store with his brother and was also a cleric at a local mosque.

Sources said detectives are investigating whether the attack was a case of mistaken identity with the innocent victims not the intended targets.

Bowden and Ali will both appear at Blackburn Magistrates’ Court tomorrow morning.