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London: A family of three are missing after a fire tore through their Shropshire country mansion in a suspected arson attack, police said on Wednesday.
Detectives hope CCTV footage will offer some clues about the blaze which left much of the property near Oswestry destroyed.
The owners, Christopher Foster and his wife Jillian, and their teenage daughter Kirsty remain unaccounted for. Media reports said the owner was a millionaire businessman, understood to be the managing director of a company responsible for insulation on oil rigs.
Three horses have been found dead and at least two dogs, believed to have been in kennels, are missing.
The fire was reported at Osbaston House, Maesbrook, at 5am on Tuesday, but officers have been unable to search the site because of safety concerns.
"An investigation into the fire, which is believed to have been started deliberately, and the whereabouts of the owners has been launched," West Mercia Constabulary said in a statement.
"Officers have not yet been able to enter the property due to the severity of the fire, so have not established whether anybody was inside at the time."
The £1.2 million (Dh8.28 million) mansion was a converted farmhouse, set back from a remote country lane, media reports said.
Police hope to begin a search of the property and a number of outbuildings which were also substantially damaged in the fire during the next few days.
"There was a CCTV system at the property, which has been recovered by officers and will be examined over the coming days," Detective Superintendent Jon Groves, from West Mercia's Major Incident Unit said in a statement.
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