Saturday, February 8, 2025

American Peace Corp escapes as children perish in fire

An American Peace Corp based in Gumare narrowly escaped death after a house in which he was sleeping in with his host family was gutted down by fire.

According to Officer Commanding Number 5 District Senior Superintendent Peter Gochela, the incident, which claimed the lives of two children aged 4 and 2 took place in the early hours of Monday at around 12am.

The family, comprising of a 66 year old woman, her three grandchildren aged 8, 4, 2 and 10 months respectively were sleeping in one bedroom while the peace corp occupied the other room of the three bedroom house.  

Two other children and their grandmother sustained serious injuries and have been  admitted at Gumare Primary Hospital, and are likely to be transferred to Letsholathebe Memorial Hospital in Maun.

Although investigations are still ongoing to determine the cause of the accident, Gochela said that they suspect there might have been an electrical fault. He noted that police immediately rushed to the scene after being alerted by neighbours, only to find the house already in flames. He said the other challenge was that Gumare does not have a fire station and therefore all fire incidents are attended by fire personnel from Maun, some 250 kilometers away. 

“This is an unfortunate incident, especially that there had been loss of lives. The Peace Corp was fortunate enough to escape with just a knee injury. I am told even the surviving three are in a very critical condition that they might have to be transferred to Letsholathebe Memorial,” he said.

 “As it stands now we don’t know the extent of damage to property. But we suspect it’s a lot since nothing was retrieved from the house.”

The Officer Commanding advised people to always be cautious, particularly with electricity. Also because investigations are still fresh, he could neither admit nor refute the possibility of foul play.

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