Kids locked up by parents burnt to death

Two children have been killed in a fire incident on Udo Imuk Street, in the Eket Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.

PUNCH Metro gathered that the minors, aged six and three, were burnt beyond recognition in the inferno, which occurred around 7pm on Friday.

Our correspondent learnt that the kids were locked up in a room by their parents.

Neighbours said they had no idea that the kids were inside the room when they saw fire burning the room.

The cause of the inferno had yet to be ascertained as of press time.

PUNCH Metro, during a visit to the scene on Saturday, observed that there was no light source such as electrical connections, candle or gas cylinder, in the room.

The father of the victims, Prince Ekpo, said, “I left my phone to illuminate the room for the children, hoping to return soon after my injection; my wife earlier went out to buy something.

“I came back and saw people gathered and discovered that my two children were burnt dead and we don’t know the source of the fire.”

Also, while speaking to journalists, the landlord, Bright Peter, said he had yet to know the source of the fire.

He said, “We did not notice when the fire started; we only heard an explosion and while going to check, the fire had gutted the room and spread to our rooms and parlours; we tried to remove our property, but serious damage had been done already.

“We called people to help us to quench the fire and I told my brother that children were inside the room; but before we could get to them, they had been killed.”

(PUNCH)