6yo Adelaide girl dies in suspected house of horrors, police investigate case as criminal neglect

Tragically, the child died shortly after she was taken to hospital. Photo / Supplied

A six-year-old girl has died after she was taken from an Adelaide home, with police investigating her death as a potential case of criminal neglect.

The child was taken to Lyell McEwin Hospital on Friday morning after paramedics found her in an unresponsive state inside a home in the northern Adelaide suburb of Munno Para. She died soon after her arrival.

Five other children between the ages of seven and 16 were also removed from the home. Believed to be her siblings, South Australian Police have worked with partner agencies to ensure their continued welfare.

While the investigation is ongoing, her death is being investigated as a case of criminal negligence causing death, an offence that carries a maximum term of life imprisonment.

Detectives from Northern District Police and the Major Crime Investigation Branch have been investigating the circumstances around her death. A specialist team dubbed Task Force Prime has also been established.

A statement from police indicates they will be conducting a "simultaneous and comprehensive coronial investigation that will focus on the cause and circumstances of the child's death".

The death of the 6yo has been compared to the state's infamous 2008 House of Horrors case. Photo / SA Police

The inquiry is also expected to probe the living conditions of the girl's siblings and will examine the diet of the children and any adverse effects it may have had.

Comparisons have been made between this case and Adelaide's infamous 2008 "house of horrors" case. In one of the state's worst ever child abuse cases, 21 children were found living with six adults from three families in a squalid home filled with junk and infested with maggots, flies and cockroaches.

The children were prevented from eating and suffered severe malnutrition, stunted growth and scabies.

The children were discovered after a five-year-old boy was taken to hospital suffering severe hypothermia. Medical staff found he was 97 per cent lighter than other children his age, the Adelaide Advertiser reports.

Three adults were jailed over their involvement in the treatment of those children.