Woman, 4 children burnt to death in Rivers house fire

A mother and her four children died in a fire that razed down their house in Okochiri Community of Okrika Local Government Area of Rivers State at the break of dawn on Friday.

Reports indicated that the disaster happened while the family was sleeping despite the cause of the fire not being known yet.

It was gathered that the fire was eventually put out through the efforts of community youths who launched a rescue operation after hearing about the incident.

Some neighbours told newsmen that the fire was caused by petrol which was ignited by a spark, but the claim has yet to be verified.

The Commander of the Civilian Joint Task Force in Okrika, Mr. Igwe Godswill, who confirmed the incident, said details were still sketchy.

He said, “We just heard the news this morning about the fire incident. There are no proper details as to what happened, but when we got there this morning, we saw that about four children and their mother, a total of five persons, were burnt to death.

“But the police had already arrived and taken proper details of what happened. It is so disheartening that this is happening again in our community.

“When we got there this morning, the fire had been put off and the police had already come to the scene. I believe proper investigation will be carried out.”

The Rivers State Police Command was yet to react to the incident as of the time of filing this report, as the spokesperson, ASP Agabe Blessing Kaborlo, did not respond to calls seeking clarification.