Kendrapada: Four members of a family, including two children, were charred to death after a fire engulfed their house at Nalipur village under Balichandrapur police limits in Jajpur district on Saturday night. The blaze is suspected to have been triggered by an LPG cylinder explosion.The deceased were identified as Tabasum Bibi (42), daughter-in-law of house owner Sk Nizamuddin; his daughter Gulafa Bibi (27); and Gulafa’s children, two-year-old Arham and 12-year-old Roshani. Nizamuddin was not at home when the incident occurred.“The intensity of the blaze was so high that we could only watch the house burning helplessly,” said Sk Akil, a villager.The fire reportedly started in one corner of the house and rapidly spread, engulfing two asbestos-roofed and two thatched structures. Furniture, brass and aluminium utensils and other valuables were gutted.The exact cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. Locals suspect an LPG cylinder exploded while the family was cooking, causing the flames to spread rapidly.Fire personnel rushed to the spot and brought the blaze under control. Police recovered the charred bodies and sent them to the district headquarters hospital in Jajpur for post-mortem.Balichandrapur police station IIC Dilip Mohanty said the exact cause of the deaths would be known after the post-mortem reports.