Child dead, man seriously injured in Melbourne house fire

A child has died and a man has been hospitalized with serious injuries following a house fire in southwest Melbourne in the early hours of Monday.

Police in the state of Victoria said in a statement that emergency services were called to the fire in the suburb of Werribee, 28 km southwest of central Melbourne, shortly after midnight.

Crews extinguished the blaze before locating a child deceased inside.

A male resident of the home was taken to hospital with serious injuries, police said.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that the deceased child has been identified as a three-year-old boy and that another child, aged 11, escaped the fire by jumping from a window.

Victoria Police said that an arson chemist will attend the scene and the circumstances surrounding the fire are being investigated, but that it is not being treated as suspicious.