Woman ‘sets home on fire with person inside and pulls up chair to watch it burn’

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A woman has been arrested after reportedly setting a house alight with people trapped inside before camping outside to watch the building burn.

Gail Metwally was caught on camera by a neighbour lounging in the chair with a book on her lap when the house went up in flames on Thursday.

The woman was arrested for attempted murder after a person was trapped inside at the time of the blaze.

The 47-year-old watched on as her home in Elkton, Maryland, turned into a horrific fireball.

Fire crews rushed to the scene at around 1.15pm local time as locals stood on the sidelines in disbelief.

Metwally is alleged to have set multiple fires inside the building before strolling outside and observing her 'work' from a chair on the grass.

A man who took footage of the incident can be heard shouting: "She just f*****g lit the trash can on fire!"

"Oh my f*****g God, this is not happening right now! She lit the f*****g house! Oh my God! I cannot actually believe my eyes. I cannot actually believe it, and she’s sitting there just chillin’ — watching the house go up flames!”

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She was dressed in a white tank top and a sun hat and sitting in the chair in the video with a book on her lap.

Within seconds, the fire engulfs the building and sends thick plumes of black smoke billowing into the sky.

A woman, later identified as Blenda Holbrook, was screaming from the basement as firefighters arrived on the scene.

Bystanders raced to her aid and hoisted her out of a window of the burning house.

Luckily she was unharmed in the incident, as Metwally reportedly fled the scene.

She was later picked up by police a few blocks away.

Authorities say she lived in the house with three other people, including Holbrook, with the other two occupants not at home when the blaze started.

A motive for the fire has not yet been made clear by cops.

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Metwally has been charged with first and second-degree attempted murder, first-degree arson, and first-degree assault. She has also been charged with two counts of malicious burning, two counts of malicious destruction of property, and two counts of reckless endangerment.

She remains in custody at the Cecil County Detention Centre and awaits an arraignment hearing.

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