Tragedy struck a North End home Friday morning. While two people were able to escape a house fire, another two trapped inside died.

The City of Winnipeg said in a release that the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service (WFPS) responded to reports of a fire in a two and a half storey multi-family home in the 700 block of Selkirk Avenue just after 11:00 a.m.

By the time crews arrived they said the fire was "well-involved with heavy flames coming from the windows."

Firefighters attempted to enter the building but were forced out due to deteriorating conditions crews were forced to transition to a defensive fire attack.

Two occupants self-evacuated prior to the arrival of crews and were taken to hospital in unstable condition. Once the fire was knocked down and crews were able to re-enter the structure to extinguish hotspots, two additional occupants were located deceased.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. No damage estimates are available at this time; however, the home is expected to be a total loss.