POCAHONTAS, Ill. (AP) — Authorities say a 4-year-old girl has died and five of her family members are hospitalized after a southern Illinois house fire.
Bond County Coroner Anthony Brooks says the girl was pronounced dead Wednesday morning in the small village of Pocahontas, about 40 miles (64.37 kilometers) northeast of St. Louis.
Brian Wilson, the EMS chief in nearby Highland, said 15-month-old twin girls, a 12-year-old boy and the children’s parents all were injured. Their conditions weren’t immediately available.
Highland-Pierrnon Fire Protection District officials say the family was trapped on the home’s second story and escaped through a window onto the first-floor roof.
Pocahontas-Old Ripley Fire Department Chief Dennis Lindley said when firefighters arrived “there were flames blowing out the windows.”
The Illinois State Fire Marshal’s office is investigating the cause of the blaze.
