Story By: Ana Lacasa, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
These are the haunting images from inside the house where this mum’s two young kids were burnt alive.
Firefighters were called after a fire broke out in the city of Barranquilla, in the northern Colombian department of Atlantico and when they arrived the fire had already been controlled except for a bedroom where two young girls were sleeping.
Jose Antonio Sanchez Naranjo, 30, father of the girls, named in reports as Antonela Sanchez Salazar, 4, and Kilery Ibarra Salazar, 9, “tried to save them but the fire was very fast and he did not have enough time, the father has burns to his arms”, according to local fire chief surnamed Cabrera.
Kilery’s mother of one of the youngsters, Julieth Salazar Reales, 32, reportedly suffered from breathing problems in the fire along with a one-month-old baby who was in the house at the time.
Betsaida Martinez, Antonella’s mother, told local media that they are still waiting for the results from Forensics to identify which body is which as they were seriously burnt.
Martinez had reportedly not seen her daughter for four months as Antonella was living with her father and his girlfriend.
A friend of the family named David Graterol was in the house when the incident took place but he was not injured.
He told local media: “We were sleeping and I heard the girls screaming they were burning. When we went out, the flames were very high, we took the baby out as he was in another room with the parents and we went into the girls’ room, but the flames were very high.”
Commander of the firefighters of Barranquilla, Jaime Perez, said a fan that was in the room of the girls became stuck and the friction caused it to short-circuit, sparking flames that burned the room.
The investigation is ongoing and the parents will receive psychological attention.
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