Two children die in Kieni house fire

Two children were burnt to death after their house caught fire as they slept at Honi village, Nyeri, on Wednesday.

Elizabeth Muthoni, 32, left her daughters aged two and three years locked in the house when the 10am incident occurred.

Muthoni, a casual labourer, had gone job-hunting when the house made of timber and mabati caught fire.

A neighbour, Danson Wanjama, said he was at a construction site nearby when he heard screams and rushed to find the two-roomed house on fire.

Wanjama said with the help of neighbours, they put out the fire but the door to the room where the children were sleeping was padlocked.

Muthoni arrived after the incident and told neighbours her two children were sleeping inside.

The cause of the fire was not immediately established.

Police arrived later and removed the charred remains to St Mary Immaculate Hospital morgue as villagers and area MP Kanini Kega trooped to the scene.