Bratislava  - Three children suffocated early Friday in a blaze in an impoverished Roma housing estate in eastern Slovakia, the fire department said.

Two boys and a girl, aged 2, 3 and 8 respectively, died from fumes rising from a fire raging on a floor below, said Emil Sekel, a fire department deputy head in eastern city of Kosice.

Rescuers revived a woman and a 4-year-old boy, who were probably the children's mother and brother, who were found unconscious in the same apartment, he said.

The victims lived at Lunik IX, an impoverished, unemployment- stricken and ghetto-like housing estate in Kosice that is predominantly inhabited by the Roma.

The cause of the fire was not immediately known. Firefighters suspected an electrical short circuit or an open flame, Sekel said. dpa  Three children suffocated early Friday in a blaze in an impoverished Roma housing estate in eastern Slovakia, the fire department said.

Two boys and a girl, aged 2, 3 and 8 respectively, died from fumes rising from a fire raging on a floor below, said Emil Sekel, a fire department deputy head in eastern city of Kosice.

Rescuers revived a woman and a 4-year-old boy, who were probably the children's mother and brother, who were found unconscious in the same apartment, he said.

The victims lived at Lunik IX, an impoverished, unemployment- stricken and ghetto-like housing estate in Kosice that is predominantly inhabited by the Roma.

The cause of the fire was not immediately known. Firefighters suspected an electrical short circuit or an open flame, Sekel said. (dpa)