Tragedy struck at Ugwuaji community in the Enugu South Local Government Area of Enugu State as an eight-year-old girl identified as Ifunanya was killed in a fire.

The incident which occurred on Wednesday also destroyed property worth millions of naira.

Community sources told our correspondent that the little girl was sleeping in her room when the fire started, which was said to have been caused by candle light.

The grandfather of the deceased and owner of the house, Lazarus Anya-Anike, told our correspondent that the fire was caused by candlelight one of his grandchildren preparing for secondary school common entrance examination used for reading.

He said, “My granddaughter, Ifunanya, who lost her life in the incident, was inside the room sleeping while other children fled when the fire started and they shouted for help as it was beyond their control. The fire was put out by the intervention of firefighters. Their intervention helped to stop the fire from razing the entire building.”

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He appealed to the state government and individuals to come to his family’s aid as the fire destroyed his family belongings.

The Enugu State Chief Fire Officer, Okwudili Ohaa, described the incident as unfortunate and warned residents to always be safety conscious.

Ohaa said the state fire service responded promptly after receiving the alert about the inferno which started about 8.30pm within Umunnaugwu Quarters of the community.

He said firefighters rescued the rest of the 10 rooms in the bungalow, adding that the inferno totally burnt down three of the rooms.

He said, “The timely intervention of our fire team and engines helped to rescue the remaining rooms in the bungalow. However, before we could get to the scene, unfortunately, the fire had engulfed one of the rooms where a little girl was sleeping. It was sad. We sympathise with the family members of the deceased and pray to God to grant them the fortitude to bear the loss.”