Four children were on Wednesday charred to death when a mount of dry stalks of grain plants caught fire at Ahiliyapur-Chowra village in Giridih district.

The children, aged between two and seven, were playing near the heap when the incident occurred, block development officer Ambika Prasad said.

The children belonged to two separate families. Though a match-box and a lantern were recovered from the spot, it was not known how the fire broke out, he added.