HONOLULU (AP) -- A 12-year-old girl was killed early Sunday morning in a house fire in Kaneohe, fire officials said.

The girl, identified by family members as Marika Quirit, was pronounced dead at the scene after being found in the rear bedroom of the house at 45-324 Kulauli St.

The cause of the fire that was reported at 3:26 a.m. was under investigation.

The probe is centering on the bedroom, because that was where witnesses first saw flames, Honolulu Fire Department spokesman Capt. Emmit Kane said.

Fire officials estimated damage to the gutted building and its contents at $180,000.

Two families, totaling six people, lived in the house. The others made it out safely.

Neighbors tried to help fight the fire, but were unable to control the flames.

``The flames were so high and so strong, when I saw it, it looked like an inferno,'' neighbor Beatrice Seabury said.