A mother and daughter died in a fire that broke out Sunday night in the Karadjordjevo settlement in Pale municipality, near Sarajevo, the authorities say, adding that the father managed to save two other children.

The fire broke out and engulfed the duplex house of the Terzic family.

A married couple with three children and their parents lived in the household. As confirmed for ATV, the father managed to get two children out of the house, and returned to pick up his daughter and wife, but the fire flared up and he could no longer enter the house.

The Pale Fire Department said that they received a report about the fire at 0:50 am.

“Upon arriving at the scene, the firefighters found the duplex house in an advanced stage of fire. On the spot, they informed us that there were most likely a woman and a child inside. We tried to enter from the outside, but it was not possible. When we extinguished the fire, we went inside and unfortunately found two charred bodies,” the Pale Fide Department said.

The father managed to get the two children out of the house, and returned to get his daughter (8) and his wife (33), but the fire flared up and nothing else could be done.

The fire has been localized and the police are on the scene to secure the place until conditions are met for an investigation.