A mother and her four children have died after a fire swept through their residence in Okochiri community, Okrika Local Government Area of Rivers State.
The tragedy occurred in the early hours of Friday, leaving five members of the same family dead.
The fire was reportedly brought under control by youths in the community before the arrival of the police.
Preliminary information from residents suggested that the blaze may have been triggered after petrol came into contact with a spark. However, the suspected cause had not been independently established as of the time of filing this report.
Confirming the incident, the Senior Commander of the Civilian Joint Task Force in Okrika, Igwe Godswill, said authorities were still gathering details about the circumstances surrounding the fire.
Godswill said community members who arrived at the scene found the bodies of four children and their mother after the flames had been extinguished.
“We just heard the news this morning about the fire. There are no proper details about what happened, but when we got there this morning, we saw that about four children had been burnt to death and the wife — a total of five persons,” he said.
He described the incident as devastating, adding that the police had already arrived at the scene and commenced the process of documenting what happened.
According to him, the fire had been extinguished by the time he and other community members reached the residence.
He added that a full investigation was expected to determine the circumstances that led to the fatal fire.
The official said the matter had been taken over by the police at the Okrika Police Station.
The spokesperson for the Rivers State Police Command, Blessing Agabe, also confirmed the incident.
