GAZA, Jan 6: Five Palestinian children burned to death in a tent in the Gaza Strip on Sunday after a candle fell over and ignited a bottle of cooking oil while they slept, hospital officials said.

Their mother and another child were not expected to survive after suffering burns over 90 per cent of their bodies. The family’s father lost the use of his legs in the fire in the early hours of the morning, the officials said.

The family of 11 had been living in Khan Younis refugee camp until last month, when they abandoned a home damaged in Israeli-Palestinian fighting and moved into a tent in the nearby village of Bani Suheila, Palestinian security officials said.—Reuters