Three children aged between four and ten years have reportedly been burnt beyond recognition after their house caught fire on Friday, December 6.
According to witnesses, the incident that occurred in the Moburo area of Kericho County took place after the minors were locked inside their house by one of the siblings who had gone to play with friends.
First responders who spoke to the press revealed that the minors' parents were not home at the time of the incident but left a phone while charging, with villagers suspecting the phone might have exploded and started the fire.
The three children, among them a disabled child, were burnt while residing in the main house, which had been constructed using timber and iron sheets.
Neighbours noticed a bellow of smoke coming out of the house, upon taking a close check, they saw the house wholly engulfed by the inferno, however, attempts to save the children and the property proved futile as the fire burnt everything to ashes.
Moments later, police officers from the Cheborgei Ploce Station arrived at the scene and retrieved the burnt-up bodies before ferrying them to the Kapkatet Hospital mortuary.
Videos and images obtained by Kenyans.co.ke showed the whole house engulfed by the inferno as residents who stood from a distance helplessly watched the fire burn down the house.
In a similar incident two months ago, on October 29, property of unknown value was burnt after a fire broke out in a residential area in Sigor Town, Bomet County.
The fire, which began at around 10:00 am, burnt down several wooden houses opposite Sigor Sub-County Hospital, forcing residents to scamper for safety. According to witnesses, the fire reportedly started in one of the houses before quickly spreading to neighbouring structures.
Upon receiving an alert, a multi-agency rescue team comprising officials from the Kenya Red Cross Society and firefighters from the Bomet County Government were quickly dispatched to the scene to help put out the inferno.
Videos and images shared widely on the internet depicted several houses engulfed in smoke as residents helplessly watched from a distance as firefighters fought to extinguish the fire.
No injuries or deaths were reported during the mid-morning incident. However, the cause of the inferno was yet to be established, with police officers launching a probe into the incident.
