Mother, four children die in Rivers fire

A mother and her four children have reportedly died in a fire that destroyed their home in Okochiri community, Okrika Local Government Area of Rivers State.

The fire occurred on Friday morning, with the cause yet to be officially established.

A source familiar with the incident said the fire may have started while petrol was being transferred into a jerrycan, causing the product to ignite.

The source also alleged that the petrol involved was suspected to be adulterated.

However, the circumstances surrounding the outbreak remained unclear as of the time of filing this report.

Commander of the Civilian Joint Task Force in Okrika LGA, Igwe Godswill, confirmed the incident, saying the bodies of the victims were found when his team arrived at the scene.

He said, “There are no proper details as to what happened. But when we got there, 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 said youths in the community had succeeded in putting out the fire before his team arrived, but the victims were believed to have died before the flames were extinguished.

He called for a thorough investigation to establish what caused the fire.

A video from the scene also showed a woman lamenting the cramped condition of the building, which suffered extensive damage, including the destruction of its roof.

However, the Rivers State Police Command gave a different casualty figure.

The command’s spokesperson, Blessing Agabe, confirmed that a woman and three of her children died in the incident.

Agabe, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, said other occupants of the building sustained injuries, while property worth thousands of naira was destroyed.

“Yes, there was a fire incident in which a woman and her three children tragically lost their lives, while others sustained injuries.

“Property estimated at thousands of naira was also destroyed in the inferno. Investigation is ongoing to ascertain the circumstances surrounding the incident and determine the cause of the fire outbreak,” she said.

The police spokesperson said investigation was ongoing to determine the immediate and remote causes of the fire.

The discrepancy between the accounts on the number of children who died could not be independently resolved as of press time.