Two children were on Monday feared dead in an early morning fire at Igbudu in Warri South Local Government Area of Delta.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the fire, which occurred at about 2 a.m, also destroyed property, worth millions of naira.
The victims included one-year-old Wealth Enorke and four-year-old Kesiena Lucky, said to be children of two sisters, Elohor Lucky and Ufuoma.
Eyewitness account said the incident might have been caused by a lighted candle allegedly put by the grandmother of the deceased children.
The account further said that the grandmother, a kerosene retailer, might have purchased adulterated kerosene, which caught the flame from the burning candle.
It was learnt that the woman succeeded in rescuing four of the children in her custody before she raised the alarm that attracted their neighbours.
The fire was said to have spread to other parts of the building and trapped the deceased before help could come to them.
Speaking on the incident, Lucky’s mother said that she left their apartment at about 1 a.m. for one Mama Sola’s apartment before she was alerted about the fire.
“I later left Mama Sola’s apartment for Tuwere place and while I was still there, a neighbour alerted me about the incident at about 2 a.m.
“Before I got there, everything had been razed down completely,” said Elohor, who was reported to be a single mother.
The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mohammed Muatafa, confirmed the incident to NAN and described it as unfortunate.
“It’s true. It is an unfortunate incident. Two children, one-year-and-four-month with four-year-old died in the fire,” he said.
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