Rescue officers quelled a minor house fire in capital city Malé early on Monday, caused by a littered cigarette butt.

The discarded cigarette had landed on a mop placed to dry outside on the fifth floor of a building, Adha in Henveiru ward, which caught fire.

The Maldives National Defence Force said that the cigarette butt was discarded from a higher floor on another building.

Officers had managed to quell the fire roughly 10 minutes after it was reported to them at around 1:15 am.

The fire reportedly had not caused much damage to the house and officers are further investigating the case.