Mother and six children die in Pennsylvania house explosion

A mother and her six children died following an explosion and fire at their home in Pennsylvania, authorities said.

Emergency services responded to reports of an explosion at a house in Lamar Township, Clinton County, at 08:30 local time (13:30 GMT) on Sunday, a police report said.

Firefighters found the home engulfed in flames, with a 34-year-old woman and her children trapped inside, and had "no ability to search for victims", the report added.

Investigators say a propane leak inside the home may have caused the explosion.

Police said the woman, identified as Sarah B Stolzfus, and the children, four boys and two girls aged from three to 11, were killed in the incident.

Video from local media showed black plumes of smoke rising as flames burned through the house's structure, leading to partial collapse.

An investigation into the cause of the incident is ongoing. The BBC has contacted Pennsylvania State Police for further comment.

Christina Duck, a neighbour, told local news outlet WNEP-TV that she was eating breakfast with her daughter when she heard a "boom".

"I could feel it and I got up and looked out the window, and I could see the flames through the windows, and I come running outside and within a minute the whole house was completely engulfed," she said.

Duck said she then saw other people running down the street, calling emergency services. Fire crews arrived at the scene not long after, she added.

"By the time they got here, there was no saving that house. It went up so fast," she said.