Kericho: Three children burnt to death after fire razes house they were locked in

Three children aged between 10 and 4 years were burnt beyond recognition after the house they were locked in caught fire under unclear circumstances on Friday evening.

The three minors, among them a disabled 10-year-old, had been locked inside by one of their siblings who went to a neighbor's home to play with his friends at Moburo village in Kapsogut location, Kericho County.

The villagers said the inferno burnt down the family's main house, which had been constructed from timber and iron sheets, to ashes and nothing was salvaged.

They alleged that the children’s parents, who at the time of the incident were not at home, had left a phone to charge and it might have exploded and started the fire.

According to the villagers, some of the neighbors noticed a huge smoke billowing from the homestead and when they rushed to check, they discovered that the house had been completely engulfed by the inferno.

Attempts to put out the fire were futile as the embers were fanned by dry timber used in the construction of the house and windy conditions in the area.

The incident was reported at the Cheborgei Police Station upon which officers rushed to the scene, removed the charred bodies, and took them to Kapkatet hospital mortuary.

Investigations have since been launched to establish the exact cause of the inferno.