A three-year-old girl succumbed to injuries after their house was razed by fire at Kipkaren township, Ng’enyilel location in Turbo Sub County. According to the neighbours, led by area village elder Mr. Elijah Mate and Obed Chivini, a Nyumba Kumi official, the deceased’s mother Naomi Atamba who lives away from her husband, left the minor alone in the her room and allegedly went to spend the night with her lover in the neighbourhood when the tragedy struck at about 11 pm.
It is suspected the fire resulted from a candle which the mother had left burning after her daughter had slept. They said the deceased’s grandmother, who is dumb, realized
there was something wrong after being alerted by an unpleasant smell.
The granny woke up and went to her daughter’s room, which had been locked and when she peeped inside she saw flames of fire before she alerted a neighbour who raised an alarm. “This granny is dumb and if she would’ve been in a position to speak she would’ve cried out for help but she was forced to walk to a neighbour’s door and knocked requesting for assistance. It took time for the neighbour to understand her sign language before he ran to the scene,” said Mr. Chivini.
Many neighbours rushed to scene where they had to break the door to rescue the child. However, the mother arrived immediately after the door had been broken, ignored the flames and hurriedly entered the house, and took her daughter who had been seriously burned. In the process the mother also sustained injuries.
The two were rescued and rushed to Lumakanda Sub County hospital where they received First Aid and before being transferred to Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret where the baby, Kimberly Mmboga, was announced dead on arrival.
Residents have bitterly condemned the incident accusing the lady of abandoning the child in the room alone and appealed for legal action against her.