HOHHOT, Jan. 8 -- Three children were killed in a fire on Wednesday when they were playing in stacks of corn stalks in a village in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, local authorities said.

The fire broke out around 3 p.m. when seven children were roasting food with solid alcohol in piles of corn stalks in Yamenyingzi Village, Naiman Banner in the city of Tongliao, according to the regional work safety bureau.

The fire, which scorched 70 square meters, left three children dead while four others managed to escape, the bureau said.

An initial investigation found that the children had dug a pathway through the stacks and ignited the cornstalks while roasting food there.

Further investigation is under way.