Four children were killed when a fire that apparently started in a couch on a porch spread quickly to neighbouring row homes in southwest Philadelphia, engulfing eight of them in flames, officials say.

The victims were identified as twin four-year-old sisters Maria and Marialla Bowah; Patrick Sanyeah, 4; and Taj Jacque, a boy born May 18.

The children along with three others were in the home with the twins’ mother, Dewen Bowah, 41, when the fire broke out around 2.40am on Saturday, police said.

Bowah got the other children, who are her daughters, out, but could not reach the four victims before she was forced to jump from a second-floor window, according to police.

Bowah told neighbour Milton Musa the other children were trapped inside but he could not get into the house, police said.

The four victims were found in a second-floor front bedroom, officials said. The two boys were the children of Elenor Jacque, 21, who was not at the house when fire broke out.

An initial investigation indicated the fire started in a couch on the porch of the home and spread quickly, authorities said.

Bowah and her surviving daughters suffered non-life threatening injuries making their escape.

The fire displaced about 40 residents of the block, the Red Cross said.