Moscow, Mar 4 (IANS/RIA Novosti): Five people, including three children, were killed in a fire that broke out at a house in Russia's Chelyabinsk region, the emergencies ministry said.

The blaze erupted in a one-storey house in Kartaly city Sunday, engulfing an area of 50 square metres.

It took firefighters an hour and a half to put out the fire.

A man, a woman and three girls born in 2005, 2006 and 2012 were killed in the fire, the ministry said.

In another incident, firefighters evacuated 17 people from a residential building that was swept by fire Sunday in Kostroma region in central Russia.

The fire started in a two-storey wooden house in Pyshchug village.

According to preliminary data, no one was killed or injured in the fire. But two people were said to be missing.

The number of house fires has risen dramatically in Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

More than 115,000 fires broke out in Russia in January-September 2012, killing over 7,700 people and causing total damage of over 10 billion rubles ($3.3 billion), according to data from the emergencies ministry.