The four children who died in their sleep in a mysterious house fire in Murang'a County on December 19, 2024, were suffocated and later burnt beyond recognition, a post-mortem report has revealed.
The raging question in this fire tragedy, which investigators have yet to answer, is whether it was an accident or a premeditated act of murder.
A post-mortem report conducted on December 23, 2024, at the Murang'a Level Five Hospital mortuary found that the four children had no chance of survival.
"All had enlarged and perforated lungs due to inhalation of large quantities of charcoal smoke. The bodies also suffered burns that made them difficult to recognise," the report said.
The report said the four could not have survived with the damage the smoke had done to their fragile lungs.
The four - Alvin Kamau, aged four, Brenda Wanjiku, aged three, Jayden Waweru, aged two, and Lyon Muturi, aged one and a half - died as they slept in a tin structure at Gakoigo market in Maragua constituency.
Baby Kamau was the son of Ms Mercy Njeri, 40.
Mercy Njeri whose family lost four children in a Murang'a fire tragedy on December 19, 2024.
Photo credit: Mwangi Muiruri | Nation
Njeri's two daughters - Jacinta Muthoni, 24, and Emmah Wairimu, 21 - lost their children Muturi and Wanjiku respectively.
Ms Njeri's sister, Ms Leah Wanjira, 35, lost her son Waweru in the worst Christmas season the family had ever experienced.
Ms Njeri told Nation.Africa that "for the past two years, we have been living in an eight square metre room as a family of 10 - five adults and five children".
She explained that the fire started a few minutes before 9 pm when the five adults and one child were "spending the night away from the ill-fated house".
As the family prepares to bury the four children, she has insisted that the fire that killed them remains suspicious and urged security officials in the area to speed up investigations and provide credible answers.
Jacinta Muthoni, 24, who lost her son in the Murang'a fire tragedy in Gakoigi Village, Maragua Constituency, on December 19, 2024.
Photo credit: Mwangi Muiruri | Nation
"This is not an ordinary fire... the house was not connected to any form of electricity, there were no flammable materials, no gas cylinder... we used to cook, eat and sleep on an outside stove," she said.
Mr John Kubai, who was involved in the attempt to rescue the trapped children, told Nation.Africa that "the fire was fiercest at the entrance and there was no way they could have been rescued as the iron sheet house is bordered by a concrete wall at the back".
However, it remains a mystery why the neighbouring tenants did not remove their iron sheets to use their rooms as escape routes for the trapped children.
Murang'a South Deputy County Commissioner Mr Gitonga Murungi told Nation.Africa that "we are insisting that our investigators use all possible creativity to get us the answer to this tragedy...it is an event that we must give an answer to the public as to what really caused these deaths".
He said he was calling on "anyone with possible leads to unravel the mystery to share them with our investigators... the whole thing is a mystery".
Murang'a South Director of Criminal Investigations, Mr John Kanda, said investigations were on track and urged patience.
"We are waiting for the post-mortem results... we have taken some samples from the scene and we have interviewed some witnesses. We will come back with an answer," he said.
This came as Murang'a senator Joe Nyutu questioned what he called the "casual approach to investigations where the scene of the fire was never secured against tampering".
Mr Nyutu wondered how a mysterious fire that claimed four lives could be investigated without first securing the scene.
"Since the fire tragedy struck the family, the scene has remained an open field accessible to all and sundry as the incessant rains continue to cover up any clues. The scene has not been tested for the probable cause of the deadly flames," the senator said.
Mr Nyutu said: 'We cannot afford to be so lackadaisical as a government that we are not sensitive to the grave implications of this mysterious fire... we owe this family an answer, we owe the deceased justice... these are not just chickens that died in such a painful way.
On Monday, Murang'a Governor Irungu Kang'ata announced that his administration would waive all bills incurred at Murang'a Level Five Hospital facilities.
"The expenses include mortuary, post-mortem and permits... all amounting to Sh175,000... As a county government, we are sorry for their loss and will continue to work with this family in this moment of great need," he said.
Dr Kang'ata added that the county was shocked to learn of the tragedy and would be launching a county-wide audit of safety measures in informal settlements.
The house where the four children died was a temporary extension to a plot of land built without emergency access, making it difficult for neighbours to put out the fire.
Even if a fire extinguisher had arrived, it would not have been able to reach the scene because it is at the end of a small back alley.
The family's big dilemma was finding graves for the dead children, as their mothers were single and had no land.
However, a relative has volunteered to give the four mothers a grave for their babies in the neighbouring Kandara constituency.
"All our household goods were destroyed in the fire... all our important documents were destroyed. More poverty has piled on top of our earlier poverty. Burying four dead children is not an easy task," she said.
Ms Njeri said the family had an estimated budget of Sh300,000 to carry out the burials and appealed to well-wishers to stand in for them.
The area MP, Mary wa Maua, broke down in tears when she visited the grieving family.
"Our God knows why, we cannot complain. But the human nature in us must demand a full and comprehensive official report from the investigators detailing the cause of the fire," she said.
"As a mother, I know the strong bond a woman has with her unborn child. It is not a small thing for a mother to lose a child, a family losing four children is a national tragedy that should have attracted the interest of State House," she said.
On Sunday, December 22, Ms Wa Maua said she had already made arrangements for the family to get accommodation and basic necessities to ease their grief.
"We are also actively involved in the funeral arrangements... I will stand in for them," she said.
