2 siblings die in bush fire

A RODENT hunting expedition ended tragically when a bush fire spread across the community, killing two siblings in Kitwe’s Mukuba-Matanki area.
Copperbelt Province deputy commissioner of police Byemba Musole said the victims, aged three years and 20 months, died on Saturday in an inferno that was ignited by hunters.

Mr Musole said the children, identified as Peter and Ilunga Saineti, were playing outside while their mother, Delia Saineti, 35, was grinding her maize at a neighbour’s hammer mill within the community on the banks of the Kafue River when they were engulfed in the fire.
“Ms Saineti saw the fire whilst she was at the neighbour’s house, and so she rushed back home to try and rescue her children.

But the fire had already spread and her children had been burnt to death,” he said.
Mr Musole said Ms Saineti sustained serious burns and is currently admitted to Kitwe Central Hospital.
He said police suspect that the fire was started by people who were digging the ground for rodents.