Lucknow, Feb 8 (IANS) Five members of a family were burnt to death while six were severely injured when a fire broke out at their house in Uttar Pradesh's Etawah district, police said Monday.

The fire broke out around midnight Sunday at the residence of a bank employee at Tuxi town in Etawah, some 300 km from Lucknow. It was doused around 2 a.m.

'The dead include three women and two men. The other six members of the family have received severe burn injuries,' police inspector Ramesh Singh told reporters in Etawah.

'Due to congested lanes, rescue operations and efforts to douse the flames which had engulfed the entire two-storeyed house became quite challenging for us and also for the firefighting officials,' he added.

According to police, the six injured in the mishap were being treated at a hospital where their condition was stated to be critical.

Police and fire officials did not know the exact cause of the fire.

'Fire officials along with us are carrying out a joint probe to establish the reason behind the incident,' said Singh.