Masked man sets fire in Chicago grocery, kills 2

CHICAGO (Reuters) -- Chicago police were hunting Sunday for a masked man who rushed into a West Side grocery store and splashed a flammable liquid on the floor, igniting a fire that killed two women.

"Two women lost their lives, this is a double-homicide and we have a community alert out to find this offender," police spokeswoman Patrice Harper said.

The suspect pulled a ski mask over his face and entered Mike & Sons Food and Liquor just before noon Saturday. Police said he poured a bucket of flammable liquid on the floor and lit it as shoppers, including children, watched in horror.

He fled in a powder-blue car as a store manager and customers fled.

Two women employees were found upstairs and later pronounced dead at area hospitals. Autopsies were being performed Sunday.

Authorities said they knew of no motive for the attack.

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