Three children perish in devastating house fire

RUANGWA: THREE children from the same family have been found dead after the house they were living in caught fire.

The children were identified as Membe Ndama (7), Mwaru Ndama (2), and Sayi Ndama (1), who were living with their parents in Nambilanje Village, Ruangwa District in Lindi Region.

The incident was confirmed by Lindi Regional Police Commander, John Imori, who said the tragedy occurred on  Wednesday around 5:00 PM.

Elaborating, the Commander said that the parents of the children had gone to fetch water and dig up sweet potatoes, leaving the children at home.

Sayi was asleep while the other two were playing outside the house.

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“The parents didn’t go far, after a short while, they saw their house on fire,” the Commander said.

According to the commander, the house had a thatched roof, which caused the house to catch fire fast, leading to the death of the minors.

He further said that the fire was caused by flames from a stone stove igniting dry grass used in the inner walls, which then spread throughout the house.

The bodies of the deceased were examined by Dr Ezekia Ambekile from Ruangwa District Hospital, who confirmed that the cause of death was suffocation due to smoke inhalation from the fire.

“I received the bodies on Wednesday evening and conducted a post-mortem, which revealed the deaths were caused by lack of oxygen,” he said.

The children’s father, Ndama Mashauri (33), said that while he and his wife, Mindi Msasu (20) were fetching water and digging sweet potatoes, they noticed smoke from their home, and when they returned, they found their children had already died.

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“My wife and I had gone about 2 kilometers away to fetch water and dig sweet potatoes. We left the children at home — one was sleeping and two were playing. Later, I saw smoke from the house. When we got closer, we found all three of our children had died,” said Mashauri.

Moreover, the Commander urged the public to avoid leaving children alone at home without supervision.