POLICE are treating a blaze as “suspicious” in which two men died early this-morning in London’s East End.

The blaze broke out at 1.15am in a block of maisonettes in Chapman Street, just two turnings from Shadwell fire-station.

The first emergency crew arrived within a minute of a 999 call from neighbours—but the maisonette on the second and third floors was already well ablaze.

Back-up crews arrived from Whitechapel and Bethnal Green fire-stations, but it was more than an hour before the blaze was under control.

The maisonette was totally gutted by the time firefighters got inside—where they found the bodies of the two men.

A police spokesman told the East London Advertiser: “The fire is being treated as suspicious, but there is no obvious evidence yet.

“A full investigation into how it started has now begun.”

Police and fire investigators don’t yet know the identities of the two men. They are questioning neighbours who were woken by the blaze. None of the families in the block was evacuated and no other properties were affected.