These two cute tots have tragically been burnt alive in a house fire after their dad left them alone to go on a date.
Brothers Brian Vinicius, 3, and Nicolas Caue, 1, succumbed to the flames that consumed their home in the municipality of Marica in the south-eastern Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro in the early morning of Saturday, 12th March.
Their dad Damiao Vinicius Costa Rangel was subsequently arrested and taken to a prison in the state capital Rio de Janeiro, where he remains in custody. He is due to be charged with child neglect.
The suspect reportedly told the police that he had left home to meet a woman. However, for reasons unexplained, the meeting did not end up taking place, and he decided to wait until a bakery opened to buy bread before returning home.
He left his home around 4am and only returned at around 6am, when the fire had already consumed the children’s bedroom.
Firefighters eventually brought the blaze under control, but the two youngsters had already been burned alive by that time.
At the time of reporting, the investigation into the fire was due to begin, but the preliminary hypothesis is that it was caused by a short circuit in a fan.
Police spokesman Leandro Artiles was quoted as saying: “A one-year-old child who can’t even talk or walk, is, therefore, a child who is not able to defend himself from any danger. And another three-year-old who is in the same vulnerable situation.
“So it’s important to make this very clear, this message has to be given very succinctly and clearly to parents: don’t leave your children at home alone, and much less for such a long period of time, which is legally quite relevant, of over two hours.”
The tot’s mother reportedly lives in the municipality of Belford Roxo, also in the state of Rio de Janeiro, and, at the time of reporting, the boys’ bodies were due to be released to her following the post-mortems.
