Mwingi house was locked from inside as 3 family members burned to death

 Three people, all belonging to one family died on Tuesday night at Kavuvwani location of Mwingi Central Sub County in Kitui.

 Rachel Kisungu, 42, was burned beyond recognition together with her two children.  Her daughter Mercy Wanja was 14 years old while the son, Felix Kisungu, was 9.

Speaking to Mwingi Times, Mr Benson Kinyaika, a neighbour who witnessed the midnight fire incident says that the occurrence is a mystery. He says that they were woken up by wailing sound of the family members being burnt by raging flames.

The neighbours only managed to rescue the husband named Mr Paul Mwai. No sooner had they saved the household head than the house engulfed in fire caved in.

“We heard a lot of noise from this home. Children were crying and calling for help. Upon arriving at the home we saw a huge fire which was consuming the house very fast and we started our rescue mission”, said Mr Kinyaika.

Rescue efforts

Speculations are rife that the huge fire may have been an “inside job” given than as the house was burning, a heavy padlock fastened on the door prevented rescue efforts.

Mr Kinyaika revealed that the husband and wife were embroiled in conflicts before Tuesday tragedy. His claims were corroborated by Kavuvwani Location Chief Mwinzi Muvengei. He said that his office is aware  of family conflicts in the bereaved family.

Confirming the horrible incident, Mr Muvengei urged residents to remain calm as police investigate the mystery.

“I urge the residents to remain calm as we try to unravel the mystery. The killings got us by a lot of shock and investigators would help us dig deeper and get finer details”, said the area administrator.

The bodies of the deceased were taken to Mwingi Level Four Hospital mortuary awaiting post-mortem to establish the real cause of their death.

Story by MWINGI TIMES CORRESPONDENT