DAMASCUS, April 15 (Xinhua) -- A fire swept through two tents in a rural area southeast of Damascus, killing five children from the same family and injuring three others, Syrian civil defense said Wednesday.

The blaze broke out shortly after midnight in the town of Deir al-Hajar, likely caused by a heater inside one of the tents, according to initial reports.

Civil defense teams responded and extinguished the fire, officials said. Two women and a man sustained varying degrees of burns and were transferred for medical treatment. ■