Sydney, Feb 6 (IANS) Police have launched an investigation into the death of a man in a suspicious house fire in Melbourne's inner southeast on Wednesday.

In a statement issued on Thursday, police in Australia's state of Victoria said that emergency services were called to reports of a house fire in the beachside suburb of St Kilda, six km southeast of central Melbourne, at about 8:40 p.m. local time on Wednesday.

Fire crews attended the scene and found the ground floor of the building aflame. An unidentified man was found inside with critical injuries. He was treated but died at the scene, reports Xinhua news agency, quoting the statement.

Firefighters deemed the fire suspicious and handed the case to police.

"The exact circumstances surrounding the death, as well as the fire at the property, are yet to be determined, and the matter is being treated as suspicious," the police statement said.

A crime scene has been established, and detectives from the homicide squad have commenced an investigation.

Police said that an arson chemist would assess the scene.

House fires have become a common cause of people dying in Melbourne.

Last month, a man died, and another man was injured in a house fire in the western suburbs of Melbourne.

Emergency services were called to the house in Deer Park, about 16 km west of central Melbourne after the fire started in a bedroom.

Police had said that two people were in the home at the time. One man died at the scene, and the other man in his 30s was taken to a nearby hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Fire and rescue authorities had said that the fire was contained to one bedroom and was brought under control in less than 15 minutes.

--IANS

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