MANILA, March 6 (AFP) -- A six-year-old girl rescued her baby brother from a fire in the central Philippines despite suffering serious burns herself, local newspapers reported on Saturday.

Virginia Rojo carried her four-month-old brother Joren out of their shack on the island of Negros on February 28, shielding the child with her own body as flames licked her face, said the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

The girl was asleep when the fire engulfed her home. "Jesus told me to wake up and save my baby brother," the newspapers quoted her as saying.

Although the brother was unharmed, Virginia suffered burns to her face and hands.

Authorities said a stray cigarette butt may have ignited the wooden shanty where the two children were sleeping.