Residents of the Oluwatuyi area in Akure, Ondo State, were thrown into mourning on Wednesday as two children from the same family tragically lost their lives in a house fire.
The incident, which occurred around 1:30 p.m., lasted for about two hours, completely razing the room where the children were trapped.
The victims, Jenson (3) and Jenlite (5), were burnt beyond recognition as neighbours, despite their efforts, were unable to gain access to the room to rescue them.
The cause of the fire had not been ascertained at the time of filing this report.
According to findings, the children were reportedly locked inside the house by their mother, who had gone to the market and left them unattended for nearly three hours.
An eyewitness revealed that a neighbour first noticed the fire, though no one initially realised that the children were inside the house.
One of the neighbours, identified as Ibrahim, recounted to The Hope Metro how they heard the children crying for help from the room. However, their efforts to extinguish the fire and rescue the children were unsuccessful due to the intensity of the flames.
Ibrahim alleged that evidence suggested their mother might have left a gas stove on before leaving the house.
“We tried as much as we could, but we couldn’t get inside,” Ibrahim said. “We then called the Fire Service to come to the rescue, but all efforts proved abortive.”
The incident has left neighbours and sympathisers in shock, with many describing the tragedy as devastating.
It was reported that the father of the children collapsed upon seeing their charred remains and had to be rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment.
When our correspondent visited the scene, the remains of the two children were still visible at the site of the fire.
Their corpses have since been evacuated to the University of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital (UNIMED) morgue in Akure.
