BELGRADE, Serbia—Four children died and their parents were injured in a fire in a southwestern Serbian town, police said on Sunday.
The fire broke out around 7:00 am in one of the apartment buildings in a residential building in Novi Pazar, about 200 kilometers (120 miles) southwest of Belgrade.
Police said firefighters rushed to the scene within minutes of being called, but the apartment was already engulfed in flames.
Firefighters found all the children in one room. They apparently died of carbon monoxide poisoning, the statement said.
Police say the parents are in another room and are in the hospital. The Novosti newspaper reported that they suffered severe burns.
The cause of the fire was not immediately known.
“The fire brigade responded quickly and arrived at the scene, but the fire was in an advanced stage and could have started much earlier,” police said.