A Nigerian couple, Chukwudi Micheal and Bolani Micheal, have lost their four children to a fire that gutted their two-room apartment on Tapa Road, Oke-Oko, Isawo, in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State.
According to the reports, the incident happened around 1pm on Sunday, June 26, as one of the children, Jeremiah, 12, died on the spot.
It was gathered that three other siblings: Prayer, 18; Trust in God, 14; and Ebube, 10, sustained severe burns and were rushed to a hospital, where they died a few days later.
Our correspondent, who spoke to the family on Monday, learned that both husband and wife slept in a separate room with their eight-year-old surviving daughter, Esther.
The fire was said to have engulfed the room where the four boys slept.
Chukwudi the victims’ s father told the reporters that he woke up to the scream of one of his children, who was calling for help.
“After waking up, I alerted neighbors who helped me to break the windows of the boys because their door was locked. We were able to rescue three of the boys from the fire, but one had already been burnt to death. We rushed them immediately to a hospital with the help of a neighbor’s car, but we eventually lost them,” he said.
Chukwudi noted that men of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service only came in the morning when the fire had been put out by neighbors.
However, the Public Education Officer of the state fire service, Amodu Shakiru, stated that the fire was put out by firefighters, adding that five persons were rescued.
He said, “We rescued five persons and recovered the burnt body of a teenager.”
The couple noted that they were oblivious to how the fire started as anything that could start the fire had been put off.
Our correspondent observed that both husband and wife also sustained varying degrees of burns, which they were treated at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja. It was also reported that the victims had been buried.
Benjamin Hundeyin, state Police Public Relations Officer, confirmed the incident.
He said, “Yes, it happened. The incident is still under investigation.”
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