RESIDENTS of Veiquwawa, Jittu Estate Settlement in Raiwaqa, Suva are mourning the death of a 35-year-old woman, who perished in a house fire yesterday afternoon.
Neighbour Michael Steven, who assisted the family, said he entered the burning house and managed to save the family’s one-year-old youngest child.
“It was in-between 1.30pm to 2pm when we saw the fire,” Mr Steven said.
“I ran in the house and saw that the owner Viliame Baravi was trying to save his youngest child and the wife,” Mr Steven said.
“Their four other children had managed to escape.
“Mr Baravi’s wife was trapped in the burning room and when I went in the house, she was burnt. We couldn’t save her.”
He said Mr Baravi was injured and was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance.
Another neighbour Salveena Singh said the fire spread so quickly that it engulfed the entire house in a few minutes.
“My mum ran outside our house when she heard the sound of an explosion,” she said.
“She saw our neighbour’s house on fire towards the kitchen side.
“By the time firefighters reached, the entire house was engulfed in flames.
“They couldn’t save anything.
“Luckily their children ran out of the house on time.”
Firefighters managed to prevent the fire from spreading to other houses.
Police and firefighters were at the scene yesterday conducting their investigations.
