A mother and her children have died following a fire outbreak at their residence in Okochiri community, Okrika Local Government Area of Rivers State.
The incident occurred on Friday morning, with the exact cause of the fire yet to be established.
A source who spoke on condition of anonymity said the fire reportedly started when an individual attempted to transfer petrol into a jerrycan, causing the product to ignite. The source alleged that the petrol might have been contaminated or of poor quality.
The Commander of the Civilian Joint Task Force in Okrika LGA, Igwe Godswill, confirmed the incident, but said details surrounding the tragedy remained unclear.
Godswill said he and his team arrived at the scene to find the bodies of the mother and four children.
“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,” he said.
He added that the police had arrived at the scene and commenced efforts to establish what happened.
“It is so disheartening that this is happening again in our community,” he said.
According to Godswill, local youths had managed to put out the fire before his team arrived, although the victims were believed to have died before the flames were extinguished.
He called for a thorough investigation to determine the exact cause of the fire.
A video seen by our correspondent showed a woman complaining about the cramped condition of the building, which suffered extensive damage, including to its roof.
However, the Rivers State Police Command gave a different account of the number of fatalities.
The command’s spokesperson, Blessing Agabe, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, confirmed the fire and said a woman and three of her children died in the incident.
She added that other occupants of the building sustained injuries, while property worth thousands of naira was destroyed.
Agabe said an investigation had commenced to determine the immediate and remote causes of the fire.
“Yes, there was a fire incident in which a woman and her three children tragically lost their lives, while others sustained injuries,” she said.
The discrepancy between the Civilian Joint Task Force’s account of five fatalities and the police statement reporting four deaths could not immediately be reconciled.
