Fire tragedy claims lives of mother and four kids in Rivers

A sad incident happened in Okochiri community, Okrika Local Government Area of Rivers State on Friday morning. A fire broke out in a house, killing a mother and her four children.

The cause of the fire is not clear yet. A source, who wanted to remain anonymous, said it happened when someone tried to pour petrol into a jerrycan, but it suddenly caught fire.

This source also mentioned that the petrol might have been bad fuel.

Igwe Godswill, the Commander of the Civilian Joint Task Force in Okrika LGA, confirmed the incident during a phone call. He said the details are still unclear.

When Godswill and his team arrived at the scene, they found the bodies of the woman and her four children. He said, “We just heard the news this morning about the fire. 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 and died.

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

Godswill mentioned that the local youths had put out the fire by the time he got there. He added that the family likely died before the flames were extinguished. He has called for an investigation to find out what caused the fire.

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

A video of the incident shows a woman talking about how cramped the house was. The roof and other parts of the building looked damaged.

The spokesperson for the state police command, Blessing Agabe, said she would check on the incident and update our reporter. Agabe, who is an Assistant Superintendent of Police, had not provided any feedback by Friday afternoon.