HYDERABAD: At least five children were burnt alive when an accidental fire broke out in a boarding house located in Mirpurkhas district late Thursday night, it has been learnt.

The incident happened at Pakistan Sweet Home located in Liaquat Colony, Satellite Town, of Mirpurkhas district.

According to an officer of Satellite Town police station, the in charge of boarding facility will be taken into custody.

"The bodies were found in a corner as if they tried to escape from the room, which they perhaps found locked," said the police official.

The deceased have been identified as Nasir, Abdul Waheed, Abdul Samad, Javed and Tajamul.

The boarding facility is set up in a double storey bungalow where around 40 children are living, most of them orphans, who belong from different districts of Mirpurkhas division. It is operated under Baitul Maal and funded by the federal religious ministry.

The police official further said that it doesn't appear to be a case of short circuit. "The children were using mosquito coils and it seems that the mosquito nets caught fire," he said.

A haze of smoke filled the room where the children were staying and police source said that strong chances are that children might have suffered severe suffocation and then they could not run away.

Another report suggests that the watchman, after serving dinner, locked the room from outside.

Rescuers arrived at the spot and shifted the children who had fallen unconscious. Some of them were stated to be in critical condition but doctors have so far confirmed death of five children.

Health Services Director General Dr Hassan Murad Shah confirmed the deaths and said ambulances are shifting the injured to nearby hospital.