A mother and her four children were burnt to death in the early hours of Friday when fire engulfed their residence at Okochiri community in Okrika Local Government Area of Rivers State.
It was gathered that the incident occurred while the family was asleep, although the actual cause of the fire has yet to be ascertained.
Sources said that the fire was eventually put out through the efforts of community youths who launched a rescue operation after hearing about the incident.
Some neighbours attributed the cause of the fire to petrol which was ignited by a spark, but the claim has yet to be verified.
Confirming the incident, the Commander of the Civilian Joint Task Force in Okrika, Mr Igwe Godswill, said details were still sketchy.
“We just heard the news this morning about the fire incident. There are no proper details as to what happened, but when we got there this morning, we saw that about four children and their mother, a total of five persons, were burnt to death.
“But the police had already arrived and taken proper details of what happened. It is so disheartening that this is happening again in our community.
“When we got there this morning, the fire had been put off and the police had already come to the scene. I believe proper investigation will be carried out,” he said.
The Police Command in Rivers State was yet to react to the incident as of the time of filing this report.
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