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The people of Mangu town, Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State, have been thrown into mourning following the deaths of six siblings in a late-night fire outbreak on Thursday.
A resident of the town, Saidu Nasir, confirmed the deaths to Saturday PUNCH in Jos on Friday.
He said, “Six children eventually died from the fire incident. I know their father. He is a vulcanizer, and right now, the family is in deep mourning. I pray that God will comfort them.”
Family members said the deceased children, who died around the Old Mangu Market area, were aged between four months and 12 years.
An uncle of the victims, Umar Babangida, disclosed that the fire started at about 2am.
He said the children’s mother suffered severe burns while attempting to rescue them and is presently undergoing treatment at Allah Nakowa Hospital in Mangu.
“The mother and her nine children were watching television until about 11 p.m. Later, the three male children went to sleep, leaving the mother with the six younger ones,” Aliyu said.
He explained that the exact cause of the fire could not immediately be determined.
“We cannot categorically say what caused the incident. All we know is that there was a power supply before they went to bed. Around 2:30am, we received a distress call that fire had engulfed the house,” he said.
Aliyu added that the mother made frantic efforts to bring the children out of the room but was unsuccessful, leading to the injuries she sustained.
He disclosed that Governor Caleb Mutfwang and the chairman of Mangu Local Government Area visited the bereaved family to commiserate with them.
According to him, the governor urged the family to take solace in the tragedy and promised government support to help rebuild the destroyed house.
“The governor and our local government chairman have visited us to offer their condolences. We are grateful to everyone who came to our rescue during the incident. During the fire outbreak, we saw love from both Muslims and Christians who trooped out in their numbers to help,” he added.
