TRAGEDY: Five children killed in Abuja electricity fire

Sad news - Five children have been reportedly killed in an inferno which occurred in Mpape community, in the Bwari area of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

The victims were said to have been burnt to death after fire gutted their apartment on Saturday.

PUNCH Metro gathered that there were sparks on the electric cables in the area after power was restored by the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC).

The sparks were said to have triggered a fire, which ravaged the victims’ parents apartment.

The children were said to have been trapped in the house and burnt to death.

Residents said they could not save them because there was no water in the community.

The district head of the community, Alhaji Abubakar Gimba, told Ezeja.com, an online news site, that before the children could be brought out, they were already dead.

 “We rushed to see how we could put out the fire, but before we could do that, the five children were already dead,” he said.

The spokesperson for the AEDC, Ahmed Shekarau, said some officials of the company had gone on a fact-finding mission to ascertain the true cause of the fire.

Shekarau told PUNCH Metro that a resident informed the firm about the fire.

He said, “At the moment, we have sent our team to investigate and they have yet to report back to us. Yes, some people said the fire started after power was restored, but others said the fire started from the generator.

“It was just this morning that our attention was called to it by a resident of the community who attended a safety sensitisation campaign we organised last week.

“We are surprised they just told us. When we get a preliminary report, and it shows it has something to do with electricity, we will have to set up another committee to find out why it happened.”

He later informed our correspondent that a committee had been set up by the management of the firm.

The Abuja police spokesperson, Anjuguri Manzah, said he had yet to be briefed.

He, however, promised to call back. He had yet to do so as of press time.