A family in Mwingi, Kitui County is mourning the death of their twin toddlers aged one year and 9 months who perished in a fire that engulfed their house on Wednesday morning.
The twins’ distraught mother expressed disbelief on how fast the tragedy unfolded after she left them in bed to get food.
“I left the children sleeping and went to get food to cook for them. I did not stay long. When coming back, I heard noises and found that my house had burned down. I did not understand what was happening,” she told the press.
She called on the government to intervene and conduct hasty investigations to determine how the fire started as no initial cause has been determined yet.
The father also narrated how he received the news saying, “I got the report that my house was on fire at around 8:00 AM that my house was on fire and neighbours were trying to put it out. I immediately traveled back home and found that the entire house had burned down and my children were no more.”
Echoing the mother's concern, he also stated that it was concerning that the kitchen area, more prone to fire explosions did not burn down.
“The kitchen area has not burned down. Even the gas cylinder is intact it did not burst. The part that burned down was the bedroom area where the children were sleeping. Even the window had been crashed,” he said.
The area assistant chief Benard Musili confirmed the news stating that he received a phone call from one of the residents concerning the incident but on advising them to rush the children to hospital, he was informed that they were beyond saving as they had burnt beyond recognition.
“After hearing the news, I went straight to the site where I found that indeed the children were seriously burned and had already died,” Musili said.
Upon this discovery, Musili said that he made a call to his colleagues who arrived and transported the twins bodies to the Mwingi Mortuary awaiting investigations into the matter.
He also expressed confusion on the cause of the fire as there was no obvious causes of how it started. The officer revealed that a gas cylinder and a stove were unaffected by the fire and law enforcement officers had already taken over investigations.
“We have tried to check where the fire originated but we did not find anything. There was a gas cylinder and a stove that the police officers have taken with them but the investigations are ongoing,” he added.
