A woman and her four children were killed by a midnight fire at Malam Inna quarters in Gombe, the Gombe State capital.

The victims – a housewife, her infant child, and three stepchildren – were asleep when the fire started, witnesses said.

The fire is believed to have started at about 3 a.m. when electricity supply was restored to the area.

Witnesses said the family was trapped in the house, which has only one entrance and whose windows have metal bars attached to prevent a break in.

A PREMIUM TIMES reporter who visited the area on Thursday, reports that officials of the Gombe State Fire Service had to break the wall before they could get access into the house, as it was isolated with no close neighbours nearby.

At the time of the incident, the husband of the deceased was not at home. He was said to have spent the night at the house of his first wife located in a different part of the metropolis.

Public Relations Officer of the fire service, Haruna Wambai, said by the time officials put out the fire and got access to the house, they found all the five occupants dead.

Mr. Wambai said they could not ascertain the cause of the fire, because there was no survivor from the incident to narrate how the fire started.

The funeral prayer for the deceased has since been conducted at the Federal Teaching Hospital, Gombe.

PT