A three-month-old baby has been reportedly burnt to death in a mysterious fire that engulfs an eight-room apartment in the densely populated Awe Street, in the Wurukum area of Makurdi the Benue state capital.
It was gathered that the unfortunate incident which happened at about 10:30 am last Monday was probably ignited by a sudden surge in power supply in the area.
According to a source in the neighbourhood who crave anonymity, the fire which started from one of the eight rooms in the building spread to the room where the mother of the deceased baby, Mrs. Amira Abdul kept her in the custody of a neighbour.
The source said “the mother of the baby had dropped her with the neighbour and left for an Islamic school within the community when the fire broke out moments later.
“Because of the suddenness of the fire incident, people did not remember that the little baby was sleeping on the couch in the sitting-room of the neighbour.
“By the time people remembered that she was there, it was already too late as the fire had engulfed every part of the building leaving the child burnt beyond recognition.”
“I was still in school when somebody came to inform me that there was a fire incident in my compound. Initially, I thought it was a minor fire incident until another woman came and told me to go back home.
“By the time I got home and saw the level of damage, I started crying and asked for my baby. It was then that I was told that my baby had died in the fire. I could not believe it because I was with her just moments ago.”
