Seven brothers and sisters aged between five and 13 died of smoke inhalation in a house fire in the United Arab Emirates on Monday, police said.
Hundreds of fires are reported each year across the UAE, despite attempts by authorities to curb such incidents, but casualties are rarely reported.
Police in the eastern emirate of Fujairah said the mother awoke at dawn to the smell of a fire in her house.
“When rescue teams arrived at the house, the seven children were found dead: three sons and four daughters between the ages of five and 13,” police said in a statement.
The local police chief said investigations were underway and called on residents to install smoke detectors as a safety precaution.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, the crown prince of the UAE capital Abu Dhabi, took to Twitter to express the nation’s “shared grief and pain” over the loss of the seven children addressing “heartfelt condolences” to the family.
The UAE’s civil defence force in July said it had dealt with 928 fire-related incidents in the first half of 2017. Those fires had resulted in 12 deaths and more than 100 injuries.
House fires account for nearly two-thirds of all fires in the Gulf state.
In the meantime, a fire outbreak has killed Triplets and their brother in Hadejia town, Jigawa, according to the Spokesman of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in the state, Mr Adamu Shehu.
Shehu told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday that the fire was caused by a spark from an electric appliance.
He gave the names of the triplets as Hassan Sale, Hussain Sale and Muhusin Sale, and their elder brother, Aliyu Sale, all of the same family.
He said the incident occurred on Jan. 20 at about 10:45 p.m.
“On Jan. 20, at about 10:45 p.m, there was a fire disaster at the residence of one Alhaji Sale Tela of Tudun Tanda quarters in Hadejia town.
“The fire caused the death of triplets and their younger brother namely: Hassan Sale, Hussaini Sale, Muhsin Sale aged 5 and Aliyu Sale aged 2.
“It also consumed property worth of thousands of Naira.
“The causative agent we suspect is an electric spark from a water boiler,” the spokesman said.
He advised the public to exercise caution while handling electrical appliances, particularly during the Harmattan so as forestall fire outbreak.
