TOKYO, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- Six people, including five children, died in a blaze in an apartment building in eastern Japan on Friday morning, local media reported.

The fire may have been started by a man who surrendered himself to police, claiming that he deliberately started the fire, the reports said.

"I set fire to my house," local police quoted the man as saying.

The 32-year-old man who was injured in the blaze, also said "my wife and five children were in my house," according to local police.

Police said they believe the people killed in the blaze were a woman, four boys aged 3 to 6, and an 11-year-old girl.

The fire that engulfed the three-story building in Hitachi, Ibaraki Prefecture, started at around 4:50 a.m. local time and was extinguished at around 5:50 a.m. by firefighters attending the scene, local media said.

According to the firefighters, five bodies were found in a room on the first floor of the apartment.

A girl, meanwhile, was pronounced dead after being rushed to a hospital from the scene, rescue officials said.