Fears for child, others critically injured after house fire in Harristown, Queensland

A child was missing and several others were left fighting for their lives in hospital after fire ripped through a Queensland home overnight.

A body has been found inside a home in Queensland’s southwest that was gutted by fire overnight, leaving another three people fighitng for their lives in hospital.

The home on Merritt St, Harristown was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived at about 12.30am on Wednesday.

Initial investigations indicate six people – a 34-year-old man, a 36-year-old woman, and four children – were able to escape the property after the fire broke out, police say.

A child is missing after a horror fire engulfed a Toowoomba region home overnight with six people managing to escape. Photo: ABC News

The woman and two girls – one a toddler and the other of primary school age – were rushed to Toowoomba Hospital with critical injuries, according to the Queensland Ambulance Service.

The man suffered significant arm injuries and was taken to Toowoomba Hospital with “potentially life-threatening” injuries.

The woman and another two children are fighting for their lives in hospital. Photo: Jarrard Potter

The other two children were both taken to hospital in stable conditions.

A fifth child from the home was unaccounted for as of about 6am on Wednesday, with police later confirming a body had been found inside.

They have not been formally identified.

A neighbour told the ABC he was heading to bed at about 12.30am when he heard screams and saw “a commotion” across the road.

“I was thinking, ‘What’s going on over there?’ ... looking out the windows, you see a little flicker of yellow and just (think), ‘Oh God - that’s a fire,” he said.

“So, straight onto triple-0 and got the fireys and ambulance.”

The fire has since been extinguished and a crime scene established at the property.

Investigations are under way to determine the cause of the fire.

Police are asking anyone who may have information or relevant vision to come forward.