SYDNEY, Aug. 5 -- A woman and five children have been hospitalized with injuries sustained in a house fire in the east Australian state of Queensland on Wednesday morning.

The Queensland Fire Department said crews responded to the fire in the town of Stanthorpe, 170 km southwest of Brisbane, around 8:40 a.m. on Wednesday.

The fire, which began in the stairwell of a two-story house, was extinguished, and a woman aged in her 20s and five toddler-aged children were taken by ambulance to a local hospital.

Local media reported that one of the patients was subsequently airlifted to a hospital in Brisbane for further treatment.

Authorities have commenced an investigation into the cause of the fire.

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