Three children have died and a 10-year-old boy and an adult woman are in critical condition after a house fire in Canton, Texas, authorities said.
Firefighters were called to the property near County Roads 4127 and 4128 shortly after 12.30am on Wednesday, according to Van Zandt County Fire Marshal Kevin Palmer.
Three people managed to escape before emergency crews arrived, but four children were still inside the burning building. Firefighters were forced to breach an exterior wall to reach them.
An eight-year-old boy, a five-year-old boy and a three-year-old girl died in the blaze. A fourth child, a 10-year-old boy, was taken to hospital and later airlifted to Parkland Hospital in Dallas in a critical condition.
An adult woman was also flown to Parkland Hospital and remained critically ill, while two other occupants were taken to hospital by ambulance as a precaution.
Crews from Canton, South Van Zandt, Ben Wheeler and Wills Point attended the incident. The cause of the fire was under investigation, and officials had not released the victims’ identities.
