Two held over US family killings

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Two people have been arrested in connection with the deaths of six people in a rural home near Seattle in Washington State, US police say.

The victims, believed to be three generations of the same family, died on Christmas Eve, most likely from gunshot wounds, a police spokesman said.

A man and woman who arrived at the house while investigators were at the crime scene were detained, he said.

The suspects have not been named, but police say they knew the victims.

Police said the alarm was raised by a colleague of one of the victims who became worried when they failed to show up for work and went to their house in Carnation, some 40km (25 miles) from Seattle.

He called the police who found three bodies inside the house and three more bodies elsewhere on the property which includes several outbuildings.

The police have not released the names of the victims but said they were "likely three generations" of the same family.

"We've arrested two people in this multiple homicide, a man and a woman, both in their late 20s," said Sgt John Urquhart of King County's Sheriff's Department.

"We still don't have a motive as such but the suspects are known to the victims."

The couple had come to the house as investigators were examining the crime scene, were questioned and then arrested, he said.