GUIYANG  -- Five children have died after being found suffocated on Monday evening in a deserted house used for tobacco curing in southwest China's Guizhou Province, local authorities have said.

The five children, all boys, with their ages ranging from four to six, were discovered by local villagers in Majiang County at 5:40 p.m..

Four of the boys were already dead and one later died in hospital, said the county's publicity department.

Initial investigations show that the children were killed because of suffocation in the building, where straws were burned.

The five have all already been buried according to local custom under which deceased children should be buried early.