Tragedy struck on Saturday on Fakoya
Street, in the Egbeda Akowonjo area of Lagos State after a candle fire
killed three children of the same parents.
The victims ─ Uffoma (9 years); Emeka (7
years) and Udoma (3 years) ─ were said to be asleep when the candle lit
by their father burnt out.
It was said to have burnt some of the furniture before spreading to the ceiling of their self-contained apartment.
They were reportedly burnt to death.
The Punch gathered that their mother had recently given birth to a baby at a hospital in the area.
Their
father was alleged to have lit the candle and left the house to pay a
visit to their mother when the incident happened around 10pm.
A source said, “The fire was noticed
around 10pm after their father had gone out to check their mother who
had just given birth. Before he left the house, he lit a candle and shut
the door.
“The children ─ two girls and one boy ─ slept off and did not know when the room was engulfed in flames.”
It was learnt that residents were not aware that the children were in the house until it became too late.
It was also gathered that about
one hour after battling in vain to put out the inferno, officials of the
Lagos State Fire Service were alerted.
The Director of the state fire service, Rasak Fadipe, confirmed the incident.
He said a resident called the control room and the service responded.
He added that the damage had been done before the men got to the place.
He said, “We got the call at 10.48pm. We
quickly sent the Agege Fire Station to the place with 10,000 litres of
water. The fire started from the children’s apartment and consumed the
three apartments in the building. The kids were asleep when the fire
started and they were burnt to death.”
The corpses were said to have been evacuated by the police.
Source - The Punch
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