AKRON, Ohio – A fire chief says seven people have died in a northeast Ohio house fire.

Akron Fire Chief Clarence Tucker didn’t say how many of the dead are children or adults at a news conference outside the Akron home about 30 miles south of Cleveland.

Neighbors and a relative have said there were children inside the home where a fire was reported shortly before 3 a.m. Monday.

Tucker says Akron Fire Department is working with the State Fire Marshal’s Office and Akron police to determine the cause of the blaze. A Fire Marshal’s official says investigators have collected evidence.

The fire occurred just a block from a home where a man and a woman died in an April 2016 fire investigated as a possible arson.