Scene of the fire. — Photo laodong.vn

LÂM ĐỒNG — A mother and her two young children died on Tuesday when fire tore through their wooden home in the southern province of Lâm Đồng, authorities said.

The blaze broke out before dawn in a roughly 50-square-metre timber house used as a makeshift field shelter in Đam Rông 2 Commune.

Because the structure was built entirely of wood, it was quickly engulfed, killing 32-year-old V.T.S. along with her two children – a two-year-old and a baby born earlier this year.

Authorities said the area lies in a sparsely populated, hard-to-reach part of the province with no mobile phone coverage, complicating the emergency response. Forces arrived after receiving word of the fire and have opened an investigation into its cause.

Officials from Đam Rông 2 later visited the victims' family to offer condolences and provided VNĐ20 million (US$770) to help cover funeral costs, a commune leader said. — VNS