“She ran in to try and save the two children but the room door was locked”
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The charred remains of two children and a woman were removed from a one-story apartment on Coco Plum Avenue off East Street after a blaze that broke out around 5.50am destroyed the home.
Family members told Eyewitness News that the bodies included a seven-year-old boy and an 11-year-old girl — both of whom attended EP Roberts Primary School.
The young girl recently graduated and was set to start CH Reeves Junior High School in the fall.
News of the tragedy quickly spread through the community as residents gathered to watch, many of them overcome by grief as undertakers carted away the remains.
One of the neighbors, who asked not to be named, said he and his family were asleep when they were awakened by the sounds of screaming and banging on their front door.
He said when he opened the door, he found out that the person knocking was his neighbor from the second unit, who said his apartment was on fire.
“We started to notice smoke in our unit, so everybody scrambled to try to get out the house,” he said.
He said after running out of the building, one of the residents of the back apartment, the woman who alerted everyone to the fire, remembered there were still two children inside.
“She ran in to try and save the two children but the room door was locked,” he said.
The woman, however, did not make it out of the apartment building alive.
The family had just moved into the area some five months ago.
“It’s difficult,” the man told this news organization as his voice cracked and he held back tears. “These were likable people. They were great kids.”
Director of Fire Services Superintendent Kendrick Morris said firefighters responded with two fire trucks six minutes after being alerted to the fire.
Morris said officers were able to quickly extinguish the single-story, five-room stone structure that was engulfed in flames.
However, after a search of the structure was conducted, firefighters found the partially burnt remains of the three bodies.
Four people are believed to have lived in the home and one was able to escape.
Police have not been able to determine the cause of the fire and investigations are ongoing.
Morris urged residents to be careful and try to install early warning detection systems such as smoke detectors in their homes.
He said having fire extinguishers in your home could save your life.
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