Two minors aged four and six years were on Sunday night burnt beyond recognition when fire broke out at around 8:30pm at Koiwa shopping centre in Konoin Sub County.
According to Bomet County Disaster Management Officer Mr. Stanley Mutai, the fire was started by a candle as the minors slept while the parents were away at the shopping centre.
“There is no electricity connection in the building and the mother of the children said she left a candle burning in the room as the children slept,” he said.
He pointed out that the minors were left alone by their parents who are hawkers at the trading centre, and while they slept, the candle burnt their mattress engulfing the whole house then spread to the second house. Unfortunately, the residents were unaware of the two who had been burnt beyond recognition.
By the time the disaster management team arrived at the scene, four timber temporary houses had been gutted down by the fire.
“We only managed to stop the fire from catching the petrol station which was only 50 metres away from the houses which were burnt down,” Mutai said.
Property of unknown value went down with the fires as over 10 people ran for their safety unaware of the fate of a class two boy and his kindergarten sister who had perished in the fire.
Mutai said nothing was salvaged during the incident as the fire had spread very fast through the semi-permanent structures.
The mother who came late to witness the fire was the one who demanded the whereabouts of her children when they started clearance of the debris only to find their charred remains.
The remains were taken to Longisa County hospital morgue awaiting postmortem as Mutai warned parents against leaving their minor children at home unattended.
By Joseph Obwocha
