Story By: William McGee, Sub-Editor: Lee Bullen, Agency: Newsflash
A mum whose young daughters died in a house fire where she was badly burned trying to save them has died from her injuries.
Her ex-husband is suspected of causing the fire after one witness told police he had earlier attacked and then threatened: “I will kill you and I will set the house on fire.”
The blaze broke out at the house where 28-year-old Rosenilda Rodrigues Faria lived with her daughters in the municipality of Rio Branco do Sul, in the southern Brazilian state of Parana, on 8th September.
A neighbour told local media: “She left with the house catching fire, but she still tried to go back to try to save her daughters. It was there she got badly burnt.”
Rosenilda was unable to save Ashley, 2, and Amabile, 6. She was admitted to the intensive care unit of the Evangelico Mackenzie hospital in the nearby city of Curitiba in a critical condition, with burns covering 70 per cent of her body. She died in hospital at around 6:20 am on 15th September.
Three other children of Rosenilda were at their grandparents’ house at the time. Rosenilda’s father, Vitor Rodrigues, told local media: “If all of them had been there, it would have been even worse.”
Lucas Ramos Machado, who was the father of one of the children, Ashley, was arrested hiding in a nearby house on suspicion of causing the fire. The 26-year-old has denied the charges when interviewed by police, though he has admitted to assaulting Rosenilda.
Lucas’ mother has meanwhile provided him with an alibi and has told police that she was with her son when the fire took place.
According to detectives, Rosenilda and Lucas had had an argument at around 11 pm on 7th September, following which Rosenilda filed a police report.
A friend of Rosenilda who was not named told local media: “Their first fight started inside the car. He came down running after her. They got to their house, he was on top of her, hitting her and she couldn’t escape. Rose managed to run from him, and he ran after her and said: ‘I will kill you’, and he also said: ‘You won’t survive today, I will kill you and I will set the house on fire.'”
The police, who noted injuries to Rosenilda’s cheek and head, took her to a friend’s house, and told her to stay there with her children until they found her ex-partner. It is unclear if the friend’s house the police referred to was, in fact, the grandparents’ house.
However, Rosenilda returned to her house overnight with her two youngest daughters. The fire broke out in the early morning. By the time firefighters arrived, the two girls had burnt to death.
Mr Rodrigues told local media: “They lived fighting and hitting each other.”
Another family member told local media the pair had lived together for seven years.
The investigation into Lucas is ongoing.
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