Twelve members of a family were killed in a fire which gutted their residence on Wednesday night in Kano. The tragic incident affected the family members of Ahmed Kabiru Boss which are his 38-year-old wife, her four children and seven other relatives that came from Gombe State for the naming ceremony of Mr. Kabiru's son, Umar on Saturday. One of the victims include the mother in-law of Mr. Kabiru, also the mother of chairman of Nafada local government area, Gombe State.
Miraculously, both little Umar and his father survived the incident.
A neighbour of the Kabiru at Chirancin Gabas quarters in the ancient city, Mustapha Auwalu, said he heard people screaming at about 10.30pm on the fateful day.
"This was replaced by people shouting ‘fire , fire' and when I came out, I realized that my neighbour's house was on fire," he said. He said the fire started from the kitchen attached to the one-storey building in which the victims were staying and it spread to the adjoining rooms.
Mr. Kabiru, a former staff of Oando Oil Plc, was weeping and could not talk when approached for comments. However, another neighbour, Abdulsalam Mohammed said more lives would have been saved if efforts of fire fighters and voluntary rescue workers had succeeded.
Lack of good roads
He said officials of the fire service could not gain access to the road that leads to the burnt building as a result of poor road planning. The burglar proof installed on the windows of the building also hindered rescue efforts.
"People came immediately the house caught fire and even the fire service came early, but they couldn't do anything because their vehicle didn't gain access to the slim road and they had to try using other means. But before they arrived, it was too late." Mr. Mohammed said.
Strong burglar proof
Mr. Mohammed, who frowned at the government's laxity in enforcing building codes, said this tends to promote the building of illegal structures close to public roads. He also advised the government to address the issue of insecurity as ‘the burglar proof that was fixed on the windows hindered access to the victims.' The Kano State commissioner of police, Mohammad Gana who was at the scene of the incident, confirmed the death of the twelve persons.
"Twelve persons lost their lives in the fire incident, may their soul rest in peace. Our men tried all their best, but couldn't do much because the burglar proof was so strong that we couldn't remove it. It is a pity that this kind of thing happened," he said.
The deceased were buried according to Islamic rites, with the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, Bayero Nafada in attendance.
The Kano State governor, Ibrahim Shekarau paid a condolence visit to the family where he inspected the burnt house and prayed for the souls of the departed.
