FOUR people, including two teenage boys, have been arrested by detectives investigating an alleged arson attack on the home of a Bangladeshi family.

Police carried out a series of dawn raids across the Hendon area of Sunderland yesterday, resulting in four people being taken into custody.

In the early hours of November 10, eight people escaped from the blazing house in Northcote Avenue, including Bangladeshi couple Abul Kalam Azad and Syeda Sanaz Begum and their five children.

Four of the children only escaped the inferno after leaping from a first-floor bedroom window.

Grandfather Syed Sorafot Ali, 76, died after he suffered a heart attack at the scene of the fire, having rushed from his home nearby to help his family.

Eight people, including a police officer, who came to the family's aid, needed hospital treatment for injuries sustained during the incident.

Initial investigations confirmed that the fire had started in the hall and that a brick had been thrown through the front bay window of the terraced house.

Police confirmed that they were investigating the incident as being racially-motivated and, in the two weeks since the attack, which took place in an area with a 90 per cent Bangladeshi population, community tensions have remained high.

Yesterday, police arrested two men, aged 28 and 26, and two youths, aged 17 and 14. All four come from the Hendon area and all were taken to police stations yesterday where they were questioned.

They have now been released on police bail.