A house fire in the Mixtec region of Oaxaca killed six children including a six-month-old baby girl while they were sleeping on Monday morning and burned their house to the ground.

Made of wood, laminate and tiles, the house was located in Santiago Tilapa, a village of 828 people in Coicoyán de las Flores, one of the poorest municipalities in the country.

According to initial reports, the fire was accidental.

The children’s mother lit a fire in the kitchen at around 5 a.m., as was her morning routine, and left the house to grind corn in the communal mill while the six children were still sleeping. When she returned, the fire had consumed the entire house and reduced it to ashes.

The children were all under 12 years old.

The state Attorney General’s Office (FGEO) confirmed on Twitter that personnel from the state investigation agency were investigating.

Poverty is ubiquitous in the area: the most recent report by the National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy (Coneval) from 2020 details that Coicoyán de las Flores is one of the five poorest municipalities in the country, and 99% of the municipality’s population lives in poverty.

With reports from El Universal and El País