7 children die in pre-dawn house fire in Mexico City

MEXICO CITY – Seven children died in a house fire in a poor Mexico City neighbourhood Friday.

The city prosecutors’ office said the fire erupted before dawn in a wooden dwelling in the Iztapalapa neighbourhood.

The office said five of the children were under age 10, including two 2-year-olds. The other two were 13 and 14.

Officials said the children apparently were left alone while their parents worked. Local media said the parents earn money collecting plastic bottles.

Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said someone apparently lighted a fire somewhere on the lot to keep warm.

While the cause of the blaze remained under investigation, house fires in the city are often caused by attempts to heat dwellings using wood or charcoal fires or by faulty gas connections.