BOGOTA, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- At least five people were killed and seven others injured in a fire at a police station in the Colombian town of Funza, in the central Cundinamarca department, Jorge Emilio Rey, governor of Cundinamarca, said Wednesday.

"People in detention, apparently, burned mattresses and started a fire" on Tuesday night, the governor posted on social media, adding that the injured were in intensive care units at local hospitals.

The governor said he requested local police and the Colombian Attorney General's Office "to open an investigation to determine the causes of this tragic event."

Relatives of the victims complained that authorities did not act in time to get the detainees out alive and that firefighters arrived late.

In response to these allegations, the governor of Cundinamarca said that the relevant authorities will investigate what happened. ■