Story By: Gheorghi Caraseni, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News 

A two-year-old girl has tragically died on her birthday along with three of her siblings after a fire engulfed their flat when their parents were out.

The accident took place in the Elisabetin neighbourhood in the city of Timishoara in western Romania when five children were left in their flat, with the eldest of 14 years old in charge of his siblings.

Local media report the unnamed 14-year-old had gone into the kitchen to warm some milk for the others, but when he returned he could not enter the room where the other youngsters were because of the thick smoke.

The boy reportedly ran outside and screamed for help, with an unnamed witness telling reporters: “The boy went outside and started shouting for help. The mother of the kids arrived 10-15 minutes after that. She was desperate when she saw the scene and tried to enter the house but failed because of the very thick smoke coming out of it.”

The emergency services arrived on the scene and the 14-year-old and his parents were taken to hospital where they were treated for carbon monoxide poisoning suffered by repeatedly trying to enter the home to save the children inside.

Firemen used thermographic cameras as well as oxygen masks to find and take the four children out of the home, but according to reports all four youngsters had died.

The four victims were named as Alexandra, six years old, Andrei, four years old, Antonia, who had turned two on the day of the accident, and Adrian who was just four-months-old.

One of the family’s unnamed neighbours claimed that on the night of the accident the mother, named as Ana Maria, had left the children to go shopping.

Initial investigations from firemen identified the cause of the fire as being a spark from the fireplace. An investigation has been launched into the case.

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