OSAKA - Two people were killed after a total of 9 houses were burned down on Monday morning in the southwestern Japanese prefecture of Kagoshima, local press reported.

The fire broke out at a family's home in Yakushima town on the island of Yakushima in the prefecture at around 3:30 am local time and was tackled by local firefighters from the town's fire department, according to the local broadcaster KTS.

The report said the initial fire further spread to nearby eight wooden houses built in the residential area of the town, and those buildings were then fully or partially destroyed by the fire.

The firefighters put out the fire by 8:00 am but they found the bodies of two people inside the wooden home. Although the victims have yet to be officially identified, they are believed to be members of the same family occupied the home.

A joint police and fire department investigation is carried out to establish the cause of the blaze.