Two young male children of the same mother, identified as Jelad and Jenson Oluwaranakinse, were burnt to death in a fire incident that occurred at the Oluwatuyi area of Akure, the Ondo State capital on Wednesday.
It was gathered that the deceased, Jelad, aged five and his brother, Jenson, aged three, were allegedly locked inside the apartment by their mother while she went to buy something outside.
An eyewitness told our correspondent on Thursday that before their mother returned home, the fire had started and burnt down the apartment, killing the duo. The cause of the inferno was still unknown as of the time of filing this report.
Another eyewitness narrated that the fire incident started in the afternoon on Wednesday but nobody could ascertain the cause. He stated that efforts were made to rescue the children but the efforts were not successful.
The eyewitness said, “When the fire started, the neighbours around made efforts to put it out and rescue the kids, but their efforts were unsuccessful. People called the state fire service but before their arrival to the scene, things had gone out of hand. The kids had died.”
He said the corpses had been evacuated and deposited at the morgue of the University of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital in Akure.
When contacted on Thursday, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Mrs Funmilayo Odunlami, confirmed the incident but said an investigation into the matter had commenced.
“The two male children left in the room were choked and burnt. One is Jelad Oluwaranakinse, aged five, while the second is Jenson Oluwaranakinnise, aged three years. Their mother, Mrs Deborah Oluwaranakinnise, locked the two children inside their room and went out to search for food. An investigation has commenced,” the PPRO stated.
