Woman dies while rescuing two children from inferno

Blessing Arigi-Osakwe, a 42-year-old mother, lost her life while attempting to save her two children from an inferno in Sokoto State at the weekend.

The children also lost their lives during the incident, which happened in the early hours of Saturday at their house along Trade Fair, Old Airport area of Sokoto. While the two children were recovered dead, their mother died in a hospital on Sunday.

The fire was said to have been caused by an electrical fault that emanated within the apartment while powering their generating set. According to a source, the deceased mother, alongside her husband and two older children, had initially escaped from the fire unhurt.

However, she was said to have later made a brave and desperate attempt to save the younger children, who were trapped inside the burning house. The two children were identified as her nine-year-old son and a nephew.

According to witnesses, the burning roof suddenly collapsed on the deceased woman as she attempted taking the children to a safer place. The remains of the deceased persons have been deposited at the morgue of the Usman Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto.

When contacted, Ibrahim Dingyadi, director-general of the State Fire Service, told NAN that the incident was not reported to the department. “Our personnel only attended to a fire incident along Offa road, Sokoto on Friday and there was no casualty,” he said.

Similarly, El-Mustapha Sani, the police spokesman in the state, said the incident was not reported to the police.

However, the spokesman of the Teaching Hospital, Tijjani Saddique, confirmed the story. “The two children were brought into the Trauma Centre of the hospital on Saturday dead. However, their mother died at the hospital on Sunday,” he said.