Five people were killed and another five injured in a house fire on the Chemainus Indian Reserve near Nanaimo early yesterday morning.
RCMP Const. Edward Power said the fire broke out around 2:30 a.m. yesterday.
While the cause of the fire hasn’t been established, police said family members had been digging clams on a nearby beach using a lantern, and the fire may have started when someone brought the lamp inside.
Power said some of the people on the beach tried to run into the home to rescue those inside, but the fire was too intense.
They were taken to hospital in Nanaimo to be treated for burns.
