GEORGE TOWN: Three people were killed when the car they were travelling in crashed into a tree and burst into flames at Jalan Masjid Negeri, here early today.

Penang Fire and Rescue Department Operations Officer Sha'ari Mansor said a team was sent to the scene after the department received a distress call at 2.55 am.

"On arrival, the team found a Toyota Vios car, whose registration number could not be ascertained, in flames and there were three people, including the driver, trapped inside," he said, when contacted today.

He said the team took about half an hour to extricate the charred remains from the wreckage before the bodies were sent to Penang Hospital for post mortem.

Meanwhile, Timur Laut district police chief ACP Soffian Santong, when contacted, said the police had yet to ascertain the identity of the three victims.

-- BERNAMA