Tragedy as twins die in Kirinyaga night fire

A family is in mourning and shock after their twin children died in a house fire in Karwangi village, Kirinyaga County.

The twins, David Muigai and Regina Wangui, aged four, were born on the same day and as fate would have it, they died on the same day.

The twins were sleeping in their grandmother's house when they were burnt beyond recognition in a suspected arson attack.

The incident on Wednesday afternoon left family, friends and villagers in shock.

According to the family, the children had been left with their grandmother when the tragedy struck.

"My grandchildren had visited me on Christmas holiday from Embu. I left them sleeping in the house at around 3pm and went to the nearby farm to supervise my worker who was watering my crops. 

"While on the farm I saw a huge fire engulfing the house and rushed to the scene only to find the children dead," said Ms Josephine Wakabari, the grandmother of the twins.

'Foul play'

The grandmother suspected foul play and called for thorough investigations into the incident which claimed the lives of her loved ones.

"I had switched off the power when I left the children sleeping and we would like to know what went wrong," said Ms Wakabari, 65.

The children's mother, Karen Wanjiru, who is a counsellor, was at work in Embu when she received the sad news and rushed to the scene.

"The children’s mother was at work when she learnt of what had happened to her son and daughter. She had to abandon what she was doing as the matter was urgent and of grave concern," said Daniel Muriuki, the twins’ uncle.

Mr Muriuki said the deaths of the twins came as a shock to the family, adding detectives should get into the bottom of the matter.

"It is a big loss to the family and the truth should be established," he said.

Cries for help

Residents said children could be heard screaming for help as the huge fire consumed the timber building.

"They were screaming but sadly they succumbed to burns before they could be rescued," one of the residents said.

The twins were set to join nursery this January but sadly they perished before joining school, shattering the dream of the parents.

Residents narrated how they rushed to the scene and fought the fire for hours with the assistance of disaster management officials from Kirinyaga County and managed to put it out but were unable to rescue the children.

"We found the house already burning and it proved difficult to save the lives of the minors, because the first was so huge," one of the residents, Mr Michael Chomba said.

Murinduko location assistant chief Patrick Njeru said: "Their grandmother was in the farm when she heard a loud sound which was followed by thick smoke and a huge fire. She ran to the scene and screamed for help, attracting scores of residents who tried to save the children in vain."

The MCA Murinduko Charles Nyamu asked detectives to ensure that no stone is left unturned.

Mwea East Sub-county police commander Mohammed Jarso said the remains of the children were taken to Kibugi Funeral home for postmortem examination.

He asked the family to be patient and wait for investigations into the deaths to be completed.

"We have commenced investigations and we are optimistic that the cause of the fire that killed the children will be known," he said.

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