Fire robs couple of their four children

Ayub Kahare and his wife Rose Mugure during the interview on Monday. The couple lost four children in a house fire at Gathambara village in Othaya on Sunday. [Photo: Mohammed Doyo/Standard]

By Mohammed Doyo

Nyeri, Kenya: When an Othaya couple left their home in Gathambara village, little did they know that this was the last time they would ever set eyes on their four children.

Sunday, February 9, will forever remain etched in the minds of Ayub Kahare and his wife Rose Mugure.

Mugure had had lunch together with her five children and husband. After the meal, she carried the youngest child and went back to Heroes of Faith Church, about 3km away, leaving the other children at home.

Her husband also left the house and headed to Nyeri, some 17km away to buy household goods.

One hour later, at 3:30pm, their four children were no more. They all perished in a fire tragedy that reduced their timber house to ashes.

Their Children; Sharon Wairimu,  7, Ivy Wairimu, 5 and   two-and-half-year-old twins Collins Wachira and Lewis Kigo were burnt beyond recognition.

Tears of grief rolled down the mother’s cheeks Monday as she narrated how disturbed she was by the enormous loss. On her lap was fiv-months-old Mercy Wairimu, the couples only remaining child.

“I cannot believe my children are gone. I loved them so much, why did they have to leave so soon?” Mugure said before breaking down .

She was alerted about the inferno by a neighbour through a phone call. She hurriedly left the church and arrived home already late— the fire had razed down everything.

“The fire had mercilessly engulfed the house. There was nothing to salvage including my children,” she recounts painfully.

 If it were not for the tragedy, Mugure had big plans for her children.

“My husband and I wanted the children to grow up to be important member’s of the society. We were willing to sacrifice our time and resources to see them acquire education to the highest levels,” she says.

Kahare, Mugure’s husband, tries hard to conceal his emotions. But it’s written all over his face. The eyes show it all. He is a man in deep grief.

“I never imagined my children would leave us this quickly,” he says.

Like his wife, Kahare was informed of the tragedy via phone call by a neighbour.

“I left whatever I was doing and rushed home only to find hundreds of people at my residence. Police were on the scene. Only ashes were left of what had been my house.’’

Area residents who were first at the scene of tragedy were overwhelmed by the fire that had spread to all rooms. Their efforts to contain the fire bore no fruit.

On the cause of the accident, Kahare says Nyeri police are carrying out investigations. However, he believes a petrol-driven generator last used in December might have exploded causing the fire to spread fast.

This is the second fire tragedy in the area in a span of one year. Kahare says a similar incident had happened last year.

“A fire that burnt a house down to ashes was witnessed in this area in 2013. Luckily no loss of life or property of large value was destroyed.”

 He says the fire department is located in Nyeri Town, a distance of 20km.