Jid Hafs, Bahrain  - Three Bengali workers were killed in a fire that broke out early Friday in a two-storey residential building in the village of Jid Hafs on the outskirts of Bahrain's capital, Manama.

The three workers were pronounced dead at the scene after sustaining severe burns in the blaze at the house where low-income expatriate workers live.

At least 17 other people, all believed to hail from Bangladesh, managed to escape the building unharmed before it was engulfed by fire and smoke.

The cause of the fire was under investigation. (dpa)