Two teenagers and a child who escaped the blaze were hospitalised with second-degree burns on their face, hands and forearms, said Lieutenant Keith Staples of the Memphis Fire Department.

Authorities responded to calls early on Saturday about flames in a two-story wooden residence, where firefighters needed 20 minutes to bring the blaze under control.

'During an interior search we did find seven bodies inside: one adult, one adolescent, and five small children,' Mr Staples told AFP.

A cause of the fire had yet to be determined, and authorities also were seeking to determine the identities of the victims and their relationship to one another.

The bodies of the victims were transported to the Shelby County medical examiner's office for identification and cause-of-death tests. -- AFP