A fire broke out in an apartment in the Ard al-Liwa area in Giza, where a Sudanese family had come to reside months prior after escaping the conflict in Sudan, claiming the lives of five children from the family between the ages of one and eight years.
The parents were taken to the hospital, after suffering first-degree burns to the body – their condition prevented them from giving any further information about the incident.
Ambulances arrived to transport the bodies of the victims to the mortuary at the disposal of the Public Prosecution. The initial health inspector’s report stated that the children had died as a result of “asphyxia”, resulting from inhaling a large amount of carbon dioxide gas.
An inspection of the fire site revealed that an electrical short ignited the apartment while the children were sleeping, and the parents were unable to control the fire, which ravaged their home.
Civil protection forces were able to control the fire and prevent it from spreading to other buildings in the neighborhood.
The Public Prosecution is continuing investigations into the incident, after the forensic laboratory reported that a damaged electrical connection was behind the fire.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
