LAHORE: Six children of a family died in a fire near Shah Bagh in Lahore's Kot Khwaja Saeed area late Saturday, when flames erupted in a building due to a short circuit.

Fire and rescue teams reached the spot and extinguished the fire, but it was too late to save the children trapped inside.

Six siblings, aged between one and 12, were asleep in a room where the fire broke out. Two of the children died of suffocation while the rest succumbed severe burns by the time rescue teams reached.

Police sources say the fire was caused by a short-circuit in an air-conditioner, which engulfed the room in the two-storey building within minutes.

The parents of the children were not at home at the time of the incident.

The bodies were shifted to a nearby hospital, from where they were taken for burial to the main graveyard in China Scheme area today.

Residents from the area protested against what they said was 'incompetence and lax attitude' of rescue personnel. They said the rescue teams arrived late at the scene otherwise the lives of the children could have been saved.

The deceased were identified as one-and-a-half year old's Azan and Azhan, Aleeba, 5, Dua, 7, Zain, 11 and Manahil, 12, according to Edhi sources.

President Mamnoon Hussain, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif expressed grief and sorrow over the loss of lives.

The premier also sought a report into the incident and directed for action to be taken against those found responsible for the malfunction as well as the delayed arrival of water bowsers at the site.

He asked the concerned authorities to improve firefighting equipment and mechanism so that such unfortunate incidents could be avoided in future.