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At least five dead in fire at house in rural Iowa

by Reuters
Friday, 24 January 2014 23:19 GMT

(Corrects time in last paragraph to 0935 GMT, instead of 0835 GMT)

Jan 24 (Reuters) - At least five people died in a fire that destroyed a house in rural northeast Iowa on Friday morning, authorities said.

Fire crews found the house about 70 miles (112 km) west of Dubuque, Iowa, engulfed in flames but the cause has not been determined, authorities said.

"We are in recovery now and trying to find all the bodies,"

said Ron Humphrey, a special agent for the Iowa state fire marshal. "There is quite a bit of damage and we have not even started digging into the cause yet."

Humphrey said the owner of the house apparently rented part of it out. Children were among those who died in the blaze, he said. There may be another victim in the structure, he said.

The house was 1-1/2 or two stories but was reduced to five or six feet of rubble by the fire, Humphrey said.

The fire was reported at about 3:35 a.m. Central Time (0935 GMT), the Fayette County sheriff's office said. The Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation and state fire marshal are assisting in the investigation. (Reporting by Kevin Murphy in Kansas City; Editing by David Bailey and James Dalgleish)

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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