Another Tragic Fire Incident: Two Infants Burn To Death In Lagos....

crowd gathered in front of the building: [Punch]

 Two children, both two years of age, were reportedly burnt to death in a fire that gutted an apartment in the Mafoluku, Oshodi area of Lagos Monday evening

Their six-month-old sister was, however, rescued by a nine-year-old girl, Perpetual.

According to residents the fire started after the mother of the house, identified simply as Mrs. Chukwu, lit a candle in the room and left the house.

She was said to have also padlocked the burglar-proof gate before leaving the house.

A neighbour said, “It was around 8pm that the incident happened. There were four of them inside the house. While Kosiso and Munachi were in the inner room, sleeping on a mat, the six-month-old baby and Perpetual were in the sitting room.

“Their mother lit a candle in the inner room, shut the gate and left the house. The candle fell and started burning.

She said the smoke emanating from the inner room woke up Perpetual, who quickly picked up the baby beside her.

She was said to have struggled to push out the six-month-old through the iron bars, before wriggling out too.

It was learnt that Perpetual sustained injuries in the process.

She was said to have raised the alarm which drew the attention of neighbours to the incident.

Another resident, who did not identify himself said, “We mobilised and began pouring water on the fire, but it was not enough.” but we did not realise there were kids inside

 “The mother came back and started screaming, ‘my children’. That was the time we knew the kids were there; it was too late.”

The owner of the building, Mr. Adewale Adesoye, said men of the Lagos State Fire Service were alerted to the incident that night.

He said, “We called the fire service, but they missed their way. By the time they got here, the damage had been done.”

The Head of the Lagos State fire Service, Mr. Rasak Fadipe, confirmed the incident saying , “The fire started in the night and two children died. It was caused by a lit candle stick. We were able to contain the spread of the fire.”

The Fire Service boss appealed to the residents to desist from using candle in their houses as it could be very dangerous, saying that they could purchase cheap rechargeable lamps that would be more useful for them at night.

The Deputy Police Public Relations Officer, Lelma Kolle, an Assistant Superintendent of Police,  also confirmed the incident.

He added that the corpses of the children had been taken to the mortuary.