Seven Syrian refugee children perish in Canada house fire

OTTAWA, Feb 20 (Reuters): Seven children from a family of Syrian refugees have died in a house fire in Canada's eastern port city of Halifax, authorities have said.
"There are seven fatalities resulting from the incident," police in the Atlantic seaboard city said on Tuesday.
"All deceased are believed to be young children from the same family. A woman and a man remain in hospital."
Police said that the man had "life-threatening" injuries.
Canadian media reported that the children were aged between four months and 15 years.
The family moved to Canada in 2017 as refugees from Raqqa, Syria and had lived in their home in the province of Nova Scotia for about five months, according to local news reports.
Fire quickly engulfed the house after it started at around 12:30 am on Tuesday. An investigation into the fire's cause is under way and could take months to complete.
The children's father, 39-year-old Ebraheim Barho remains in hospital in critical condition along with their mother Kawthar al-Hamad, 40.
Neighbour Danielle Burt told Canadian media that she heard a woman screaming and jumped out of bed.
"I heard a huge bang, and I was laying in bed with my daughter, followed by a woman screaming, so I jumped up out of bed and looked out the back window and all I could see was flames shooting out from the back door going out onto their deck," she said.
"It happened all so fast. The house went up really quickly."