TORONTO -- An 18-year-old university student from China is dead and three others were sent to hospital after a house fire in east Toronto, authorities said Wednesday.

Fire officials said the blaze broke out early Wednesday morning at the home shared by the four University of Toronto students who attended the school's nearby Scarborough campus.

Deputy Fire Chief Jim Jessop said the body of the young woman who died in the blaze was found in a second-floor bedroom.

One of the other students who survived the fire jumped from a second-floor window to escape the flames, which left a gaping hole in the roof of the house, Jessop said.

Firefighters had to fight the blaze from the outside and were unable to enter the home for some time, Jessop said.

"The women and men of Toronto Fire did an admirable job last night under very, very difficult circumstances," he added. "They were able to stop fire from spreading to the adjoining houses and trees."

The University of Toronto called the death of the student from China a tragedy.

"The thoughts of the entire campus community are with the family of the student who was killed in the fire and with the three other students who were in the house," vice-president Bruce Kidd said in a statement.

He added that the university has reached out to the three students who escaped the fire to offer assistance.

Fire officials are investigating what may have caused the blaze.