6 Children, 2 Adults Killed In House Fire
 

6 Children, 2 Adults killed in West Virginia House Fire After Birthday Party Sleepover

By Michael Martinez and Kara Devlin, CNN
updated 11:37 AM EDT, Sat March 24, 2012

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The Charleston Fire Department is working with police to investigate the deadly fire.

Six children and two adults, who all just participated in a birthday party the night before, were killed in a Saturday morning house fire in Charleston, West Virginia, the fire department said.

All six children are believed to be under the age of 8, and they are all related in some way, the fire department said.

A seventh child -- the sole surviving child -- was in intensive care Saturday morning at the Charleston Area Medical Center, fire officials said.

The sole surviving adult, a woman, who made the call about the fire is also being treated at the same hospital, officials said. She made the call from a neighbor's house at 7 a.m. ET Saturday, authorities said.

The seven children and three adults had spent the night together after a birthday party for one of the adults Friday evening, the fire department said.

While foul play is not suspected, the Charleston Fire Department is working with police to investigate the case.

Chief Bob Sharp of the Charleston Fire Department says this is the most tragic event he has seen with his 26 years with the department. Authorities didn't immediately know whether all the persons in the house lived there.