Bodies of 5 Children Recovered at Baltimore House Fire; 1 Child Missing; 3 People in Critical Condition

The bodies of five children were recovered and one child is missing after a fire tore through a family’s home in Baltimore, Maryland, early this morning, officials said.

The blaze started at the three-story home in northeast Baltimore just after midnight, with a mother and her nine young children inside, said Roman Clark of the Baltimore City Fire Department.

An 8-year-old girl helped her mother and two of her younger siblings — 4- and 5-year-old boys — escape the house, fire officials said. The four of them were out of the home by the time the fire department arrived.

While the 8-year-old is in good condition and could be released from the hospital shortly, the mother, the 4-year-old and the 5-year-old are in critical condition, fire officials said today.

Bryan Woolston/Reuters Officials remove a sheet covered stretcher from the scene of a overnight house fire where several children were presumed dead and others including the mother injured in Baltimore, Jan. 12, 2017.

Bryan Woolston/Reuters Officials at the scene of a overnight house fire where several children were presumed dead and others including the mother injured in Baltimore, Jan. 12, 2017.

Six children did not escape the house. Fire officials said this afternoon that the bodies of five children were recovered.

The six children who did not escape the house are: a 9-month-old boy, a 2-year-old boy, two 3-year-old twin girls, a 10-year-old girl, and an 11-year-old girl.

Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh said the children’s father was at work at the time of the fire.

Patrick Semansky/AP Photo Fire officials stand at the scene of an early morning house fire in Baltimore, Jan. 12, 2017.

“I am asking that our entire community pray for my staff member, Katie Malone, and her young family. Katie has worked as a Special Assistant in my Catonsville office for nearly 11 years where she dutifully serves my constituents in the areas of immigration, postal services, and the military, including Service Academy nominations,” Cummings said in a statement. “My staff is a family and this unimaginable tragedy is shocking and heartbreaking to us all.”

Cummings told reporters this morning that he talked to Malone’s husband “at length today.”

“Katie is going to be okay. … Three of her nine children, her husband thinks they will be okay, also,” Cummings said. “Our office will do every single thing in our power to embrace them in this very, very difficult time.”

Patrick Semansky/AP Photo Fire officials approach the scene of an early morning house fire in Baltimore, Jan. 12, 2017.

WMAR Firefighters are at the scene of a house fire in Baltimore, Maryland, Jan. 12, 2017.

The home’s third floor collapsed into the second floor, making the search for the children difficult, Clark said. He called the collapse “horrendous.”

The cause of the fire is under investigation, the fire department said.

Pugh asked citizens of Baltimore to pray for the family, saying, “Any loss is painful, but the loss of children pains you even more deeply.”

This is a developing story. Please check back for more updates.

ABC News’ Paola Chavez and Sarah Shales contributed to this report.