Centre Region: Wild flames roast seven from seven family to death!.

The incident, sources said, happened in the night of Sunday, breaking Monday July 22. 

Wild flames are said to have ballooned, following fuel droplets that came in contact with a paraffin lamp. The fire reduced a plank house in which the family was living, to ashes.

Locals said the flames spread in quick succession overwhelming the seven persons who were deep asleep. The dead are said to be between the ages of two and 20 years.

Reports hold that only two members of the family of nine, survived the fire.  Others shared the view that illicit fuel stored in the house further aggravated the catastrophe.

The Guardian Post gathered that a driver stormed the said home after his car ran out of fuel around 3 a.m. yesterday. The mother of the family, a certain Ebole Salome, is said to have gotten out of bed to attend to her customer. 

In the course of getting the illicit fuel, which she was specialised in retailing, to serve the driver, the droplets reportedly came in contact with a bush lamp, resulting in the tragedy.

Acquaintances have identified some of those who died in the incident as; Ngaba Amougou Adrien, 4; Amougou Amougou Stephan, 8; Amougou Amougou Papou, 12; Amougou Yene Willy, 12; Mbega Dorothee, 20; Njike Cabrel, 8 and Mengue Upielle, 10.

Their corpses are said to have been roasted beyond recognition. 

In the aftershock of the incident, judiciary, administrative and security authorities of the Mefou and Affamba Division, are said to have visited the scene. 

Their charred remains, we gathered, were buried hours after preliminary findings by competent state services.

Speaking to the state media yesterday, the Senior Divisional Officer, SDO, of Mefou and Afamba Division, Thierry Kin-Nou Nana, regretted the disaster. 

He condemned the practice of people dealing in flammables and advised the population to desist from the practice.

The sad incident comes after a Thursday July 4, 2024, calamity, in the village of Ebolsi, still in Awae Subdivision, Mefou and Afamba Division. It claimed the lives of four persons from the same family.

Unlike the recent fire incident linked to the retail of illicit fuel, the July 4 calamity was said to be the outcome of suspected food poisoning.

The victims are said to have perished after consuming corn fufu. The meal is believed to have been prepared with pesticide mistakenly added to the corn flour without the kids knowing. 

The mother of the kids, accounts indicated, had sent six of her kids home to prepare food while she was still working on the farm. 

The woman was later on informed of the unexpected, after four of her kids had eaten the food and started complaining of stomach ache.

This story was first published in The Guardian Post issue No:3177 of Tuesday July 23, 2024