ALMATY: Two children died in a house fire in the Pavlodar Region, northern Kazakhstan, local media reported on Thursday.

The regional emergency department said it received a report of a fire at a private home in the Ertis village at 8:33 a.m. (0333 GMT) on Thursday and firefighters arrived within three minutes.

Four children were inside the house at the time, one of whom escaped before firefighters arrived.

The other three were hospitalized, but two of them died later.

The fire burned about 50 square meters, and the cause is under investigation, the department said.

-Xinhua