70-yr-old woman and 4 grandchildren burnt to death

A family in Ese Odo Local Government Area of Ondo State has been thrown into mourning as a 70-year-old woman, Mrs. Moyo Jide and her four grand-children died in a fire accident.

Punch reports that two of the grand children had been living with their grandmother since the death of their father (Mrs. Moyo’s son) a few years ago.

The cause of the fire has not been ascertained, however, an eyewitness in the community claimed that the inferno might have been caused by the cooking fire in the deceased’s kitchen.

A resident of the community who spoke to Punch on condition of anonymity said the fire started around 12:00am when Mrs Jide and the children were already asleep.

“Everybody in the community came awake in the middle of the night when the fire started but there was nothing we could do to rescue the victims. Everything in the house was destroyed.

“We are yet to know the cause of the fire but we suspect it could be cooking fire that was not properly put out in the kitchen that caused the inferno because we use firewood here and there is no electricity in the community,” he said.

The anonymous resident also said that the incident was immediately reported at the Arogbo Police Division, while the corpses were deposited at a hospital, Punch reports.

Confirming the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer of the state, Mr Femi Joseph said the cause of the fire incident is yet to be ascertained, adding that have commenced our investigation into it