By Prince J. Musa in Kenema
Four people were confirmed dead on Tuesday in Kenema after a house was engulfed by fire.
The victims, an elderly man, his wife and their two grandchildren, were burnt down by the fire which erupted at around 10 pm on Monday, according to neighbors.
Family sources and authorities have blamed the cause of the fire on power surge.
The regional head of the Sierra Leone Fire Force in Kenema said preliminary investigation points to “electrical malfunction.”
Volunteer first aiders who rushed to the scene had to destroy the building to reach the victims. But it was too late; they could only found their burnt corpses.
Jusu Kanneh, a relative of the deceased, explained that they experienced power fluctuation for some time on Monday night, before electricity was finally cut to the area.
Kanneh, who lives in the same compound with the deceased, told Politico that when power was later restored to the area, a neighbor in the compound saw sparks in the apartment of Alhaji Amara Jusu. He said at one point they had the elderly victim saying that he and his family were trapped by the raging fire.
According to the sources, the family later ran to the toilet, where the fire eventually caught up with them.
“The fire was caused by electrical malfunction. By the time we broke the house, we met four dead bodies inside," Sheku Baba Sesay, Sierra Leone Fire Force Commander, Eastern Region, told Politico. He said that Mr Jusu was found with his hands around his grandchildren, suggesting that he was protecting them against the fire. His wife, Baindu Jusu, was found in a separate room.
The younger victims, Mamie Koroma and Lucia Sannoh, were 12 years and 10 years old, respectively, according to family sources.
All four bodies of the victims were taken to the morgue, amidst plans by the family for burial later on Tuesday.
Fire outbreak due to power surge has become a commonplace in Sierra Leone, largely attributed to decrepit infrastructure of the Electricity Distribution and Supply Authority (EDSA).
In Kenema Monday’s incident was the second fire outbreak in the district in the last one week. But there were no loss of lives in the first incident which happened at the Nyandeyama Section of the city.
Fire Officer Sesay said the practice of keeping fuel in homes worsen the situation when fire breaks out.
EDSA representatives in Kenema did not get back to Politico on time for comment, despite promising to do so.
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