Six perish in upstate New York house fire

By Marcus E. Howard

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Six people, including four children, were died on Friday when fire swept through a wood-frame house in Syracuse, New York, fire officials and local media said.

Neighbors said they heard an explosion and rushed outside to find the two story building in flames, syracuse.com reported.

The dead included a 7-year-old girl and three boys ages 10, 12 and 13, according to media reports. Two men who died were ages 33 and 34. A 32-year-old woman escaped and was treated at a hospital.

Officials from the Syracuse Fire Department, which confirmed the deaths on Twitter, were not immediately available to provide additional details. The cause of the early morning blaze was under investigation, according to media reports.

(Reporting by Marcus E. Howard)