Five people were killed and three others injured in a fire that gutted a villager's house in east China's Zhejiang Province early Thursday morning, local government sources said.

The fire broke out around 2:30 AM at the home of Ji Hongjiang, a villager of Chouguan Village of Yiwu City. It was put out about 2:50 AM.

No information has been provided about the identity of the victims or whether the eight people were sleeping in the same building.

The three injured people are receiving treatment but no information was supplied about their condition.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

(Xinhua News Agency December 21, 2006)