Four members of the same family were killed in the early hours of Wednesday after a fire swept through their home at Kundila Layin Baba Impossible in the Tarauni Local Government Area of Kano State.
The Kano State Fire Service spokesperson, Saminu Abdullahi, confirmed the tragedy in a statement, saying the blaze was reported at about 4.13 a.m. by one of the agency’s personnel, Abba Datti.
Abdullahi explained that firefighters arrived to find the ground floor residence, a 40 by 30 feet structure, already engulfed in flames.
By the time the fire was contained, two bedrooms, a parlour, a kitchen and a toilet had been razed.
Tragically, five people were trapped in the building.
Four of them, the 43 year old father, Shodandi, his wife, Rafia, 30, and their daughters, three year old Mardiya and one year and six months old Yusira, were burnt to death.
However, a 12 year old boy, identified as Aminu Shodandi, was rescued alive by firefighters.
The Fire Service expressed condolences to the family and advised residents to be more cautious with fire related materials, especially during the harmattan season.
Preliminary investigations, according to the agency, indicated that the inferno was ignited by a mosquito coil the victims lit before going to bed.
PUNCH Metro reports that the incident comes days after fire destroyed 29 shops and 19 stores at the popular Singer Market in Kano.