Australia: Two children die after Melbourne house fire

Sydney, Sep 12 (IANS) Two children have died days after suffering critical injuries in a house fire in Melbourne's northwest in Australia.Police in the state of Victoria said in a statement on Wednesday that two girls, aged one and five respectively, died surrounded by family in hospital on Wednesday morning while their three-year-old brother remains in a critical condition, Xinhua news agency reported.

The police said that emergency services were called to a house in Sydenham, Melbourne shortly after 9.30 p.m. local time on September 8.

Firefighters entered the home and located the three children, It took fire crews up to 30 minutes to retrieve the siblings before they were taken with critical injuries to the Royal Children's Hospital they were also treated immediately at the scene before being taken to hospital.

Investigation into the fire remains ongoing.

Further details are awaited.