Illinois mobile home fire kills 5, including 4 kids at sleepover

SHERRARD, Ill. Authorities say a fire that swept through a western Illinois mobile home has killed five people, including four children at a sleepover.

Mercer County Coroner Ron McNall says the victims of the blaze in the small village of Sherrard included an adult woman, and that the oldest among the children killed was just 15 years of age.

Their identities have not been released, although the Quad-City Times reports a mother, a daughter, a niece and a family friend were among those killed.

McNall says a man managed to escape the fire with two of his sons. The man tried to re-enter the burning structure but that the flames thwarted his rescue efforts. He sustained burns and was taken to a hospital.

McNall says the cause of the fire hasn't been determined.

Sherrard is a village of about 640 people located 180 miles west of Chicago.