JAKARTA, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Two Indonesian children were in critical condition at a hospital in Riau Province with doctors strongly suspecting them of having developed bird flu symptoms in the country where 84 people already died of the virus, according to local media on Monday.

    The two boys age one and three are being treated in isolated rooms at the Arifin Ahmad Hospital in the provincial capital of Pekanbaru, leading news website Detikcom said.

    "They are suffering high fever and respiratory problems," Dr. Azizman Saad with the hospital was quoted by Detikcom as saying, adding "the condition of their lungs is deteriorating, with excessive activities of liquid production."

    Laboratory tests by the hospital indicated that the two patients had bird flu but further tests in Jakarta are needed for confirmation.

    Over the last two years, bird flu killed three people in Riau alone.