A three-year-old girl from the Chawama area in Lusaka has tragically died in a house fire.
Blessing Phiri was said to have been left sleeping in the house unattended by her mother when the fire started around 15:00 hours.
Judith Siyamakaba, a neighbour of the deceased, said she was outside washing when a visitor pointed out that there was smoke coming from the house.
In a hurry, she rushed to find someone who could help her.
“I was outside washing when someone visiting me pointed out that there was smoke coming out of the house,” she said.
“I immediately rushed to look for people who could help.”
Another neighbour, Joshua Kamanga, who rushed to the scene, said they had failed to open the door to the house, so they tried making an opening in the roof.
“We failed to open the door to the house, so we tried making an opening on the roof,” he said.
“The father entered the house but couldn’t see the child. Another person also tried to go inside,by the time we found the child, it was already too late,”Kamanga said.
He added that it was evident the child had tried moving around and eventually took shelter in a corner.
Meanwhile neighbours have complained, saying the house is not suitable to have electricity and that the wiring was visibly unstable.