Moscow, Mar 18 (IANS/RIA Novosti): Three minor girls were killed and a fourth girl was injured in a fire that broke out in a village house in southern Russia, officials said.

The fire started Sunday in a house in Bykov-Otrog in Saratov region, the emergencies centre said.

As a result of smoke inhalation, three girls -- born in 2003, 2009 and 2011 -- died.

"A girl born in 2000 was taken to the city hospital," the centre said, without giving any information about the girls' parents.

Negligence, careless smoking and reluctance to comply with fire safety rules are the most frequent causes of residential building fires across Russia.

Over 150 people were killed in a fire at a nightclub in the Urals in December 2009.

More than 115,000 fires broke out in Russia in January-September 2012 alone, killing over 7,700 people and causing total damage of over 10 billion rubles ($3.3 billion), according to Russia's emergencies ministry. Some 12,000 people died in fires across Russia in 2011.