A family of six perished in an early
morning inferno yesterday in Port
Harcourt. Nobody could say what
caused the fire but neighbors of the
deceased family members told Sunday
Vanguard that the fire started at about 2pm. According to the landlord of the house,
located at number 17, New Estate
Road, Railway Quarters, they heard
was a loud explosion. What followed
next, he stated, were balls of fire. The residents claimed they ran out of
their apartments in the confusion,
adding that the explosion came from
the apartment of the deceased family
members. They said three boys, a girl and their
parents were those consumed in the fire.
They put the ages of the children at
twenty two, seventeen, nine and seven
years. According to a source, two other
daughters of the deceased parents were not at home when the incident occurred. Sunday Vanguard gathered that the
two other children relocated from home
to write the ongoing West African
Senior School Certificate Examination,
WASSCE. Neighbors said the father was a taxi
driver while the wife was a petty
trader. At press time, there was
wailing in the compound. The landlord, who did not want his
name in print, could not hold back tears,
saying he wished lives were not lost in
the fire. “If the fire had only consumed the
building leaving the lives, we would
all have been consoled. But losing a
family of six is a heavy loss”, he
lamented. Rivers State Police Public Relations
Officer, DSP Angela Agabe, who
confirmed the incident, said she was
still awaiting details.

Such a sad tale.

May the deceased RIP.