Kiambu: Woman, Her 3 Children Die After Fire Razes Down Their House

• The tragedy befell the quartet when they were fast asleep in their metal house in Nyathuna village, Kiambu county
• They are Peris Njoroge, 40; her children Susan Njeri, 22, Mark Njuguna, 16, and Edward Mbugua, 10
• Their bodies were ferried to the Thogoto morgue in Kikuyu as investigators embarked on their work

Four people lost their lives after being caught in a fire that razed down their house in Kabete on the dawn of Saturday, December 30.

Sources say the fire broke out when the now-deceased were fast asleep in their metal house.

They were a woman and her three children.

Deadly inferno in Kiambu

Efforts by neighbours to put out the fire in their mission to rescue them failed.

The mother, a 40-year-old, has been identified as Peris Njoroge; her children Susan Njeri, 22, Mark Njuguna, 16 and Edward Mbugua, 10, NTV revealed.

Nyathuna ward representative Eddy Kinyanjui said the fire engine encountered difficulty accessing the house located in the interior of the ward; they found the fire had been put off by the locals who responded.

"The fire started at around 2:00am on Saturday. We found them burnt beyond recognition. We had challenges accessing the house but finally arrived. We are yet to know what caused the fire," said Kinyanjui.

Kabete sub-county OCPD Antony Mbogoh said detectives had already started their probe.

Their bodies were ferried to the Thogoto morgue in Kikuyu as investigators embarked on their work.

Similar incident in Kericho

In September this year, a village in Kapkwen location, Kipkelion West Constituency, was thrown into mourning after six family members died in a house fire.

A man lost his wife, three children, a sister and his brother's wife when a fire broke out in a house they were sleeping in at Tumoek village.

His two sons, who were sleeping in a detached kitchen house, managed to escape the fire.

The local administrator confirmed the incident.

“A mother and her three children perished along with her sister in the inferno that also reduced household goods to ashes,” Alice Yegon, the area Assistnt Chief, told journalists at the scene of the fire.

Yegon said poor communication networks and poor roads in the area made the rescue mission more difficult.

“Poor communication networks and the poor state of roads made it difficult for coordination of rescue efforts when the fire broke out at night,” she stated.

Residents are still shocked after the victims were burned beyond recognition in the timber walled and iron roof sheet house.

A preliminary investigation showed that the fire might have been caused by a battery explosion and was fanned by some chainsaw petrol inside the house.