5 children of same parents die in inferno

TRAGEDY struck on Thursday night, in Kaduna State, when five children of the same parents were burnt to death in a domestic inferno.
The deceased, whose names were given as Sadiya (16), Ramat (11), Monsir (7), Khalid (9), and a fifth child aged 14, have since been buried according to Islamic rites.
Saturday Tribune gathered that the incident occurred when their two-bedroom apartment located in Faskari Street, Kakuri, was engulfed by fire suspected to have been caused by a candle.
It was also gathered that efforts by neighbours to rescue the children, whose parents where away as of the time of the incident, were untimely and, therefore, proved abortive.
“We suspected candlelight, because the eldest of them, Sadiya, had gone to buy kerosene earlier, but she did not get any, but bought a candle instead. Thereafter, they lit the candle and slept off. The burning candle might have caused the fire,” a neighbour said.
It was also learnt that parents of the children were at a private hospital in Kaduna, where their mother was delivered of a child a day before the incident.
Speaking amid sobs, the bereaved father, Mohammed Aminu Okene, said that he had earlier taken them to visit their mother in the hospital.
“Life is now meaningless to me, but I will only take solace in God. This is a terrible moment in my life, losing five children is the worst thing that has ever happened to me. I can’t even wish my enemy what I am going through presently. But Allah, who gives life, is the same one that takes life; He alone knows why He has taken them.
“I had a cordial relationship with my children; we lived happily together, and it is very difficult for me to forget them. Yesterday, I took them to visit their mother in the hospital, after undergoing a Caesarean Section. I prayed with my children in the hospital for Allah’s protection over them and their mother,” he lamented.
One of the victims died on the way to the hospital, while the other four died hours later in the hospital.
Saturday Tribune learnt that at about 11.30 p.m, firefighters and neighbours in the area were able to put out the fire and prevent its spread to other buildings in the area.