Five people, of whom four may have been children, died in an early morning fire that ripped through a townhouse building in Vancouver Monday, officials said.
The cause of the fire was not immediately known but the fire department was treating it as suspicious. Department officials said witnesses had described hearing an explosion.
Police cordoned off several blocks around the townhouse complex in their investigation and a school near the building was closed.
Television pictures showed a burning building on the east side of this Canadian Pacific Coast city. There were reports that the victims were all members of the same family, but officials said that could not be confirmed immediately.
“I believe at this time there’s four children and one adult, but I’m a little fuzzy on that,” Vancouver fire official Rob Jones-Cook told reporters.
Police said they were able to evacuate other people in the building with no injuries.
“It’s a terrible tragedy but it could have been a lot worse,” said police Constable Tim Fanning.
One person was taken to hospital with burn injuries and was listed in serious condition.