‘As we slept, what I heard was my wife shouting fire, fire like a dream, I rushed, passed through the fire to try to rescue my children’
Three children have lost their lives during a fire incident in the Rumuochakara, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Sources claimed that the fire which occurred on Monday night was caused by a candle, but father of the deceased children denied having a candle in his house.
The fire was said to have spread and razed two other buildings in the area.
The father of those three children, Uwekwe Solomon, said his three other surviving children who were rescued from the inferno are now in critical condition.
Mr. Solomon further said the children suffered up to 90 per cent degrees burnt, saying he has no idea of what caused the fire as they had retired to sleep.
The distraught man said, “Yesterday as we slept, what I heard was my wife shouting fire, fire, like a dream, I rushed, passed through the fire to try to rescue my children. But I was able to rescue three, then I lost three as a result of the fire. I have slept around past eight. And this thing happen by 9 to 10 pm.
“There is no candle in my house. I don’t know how the fire came about. I felt like dying with them (children). I wanted to run into a moving car, but my neighbours held me.”
The bereaved father however said one of the children who died in the inferno was his niece who came for the holiday and decided to stay back and start school in Port Harcourt, saying he had just registered her as a student as the new academic session began.
“One of them is my sister’s child that came on holiday and decided to stay with me and she wanted to start school here in Port Harcourt. So, we registered her on Monday. That same Monday, September 26, this thing happened,” he pointed out.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of Rivers State command state police command, Grace Iringe-koko, when contacted said she was yet to get details of the incident.
