Two children who lived in a rural area of Água Branca, in Piauí, died in a house fire on Saturday, 3. They were 5 and 7 years old and were alone at home.
According to neighbors, the children, Samuel and Sofia, were at home alone. The mother had left about an hour earlier to make dinner for her own father, dependent on care.
It is not known how the fire started or why it spread so fast, but the authority’s main suspicion is a gas leak. (See photos below).
Neighbors can’t help
The children screamed and asked for help when the fire started. The houses immediately next to the one that burned were empty, which made it difficult to help.
A couple of neighbors who live 50 meters away heard the scream first. They ran to the house and managed to see the fire, but the gate was locked, as the neighbor told TV Clube:
“We had no way to break the gate. It is made of iron, had a chain and a padlock. We just heard their screams inside, ‘help me, help me’, and we said ‘my children calm down, we’ll find a way.'”
More neighbors gathered to try to help and break down the gate, but no one succeeded. They could all hear the screams and cries of the children.
House falls into fire
Sara, a neighbor, said that everyone was distressed listening to the crying of the children – who “screamed until the last minute”, as she told the program. Apparently, they were silenced by the roof that gave way.
“Suddenly, [the house] exploded. That fire came out and the tiles began to fall, the burnt sticks. So, when those tiles started to fall, we didn’t hear their screams anymore. They screamed until the last minute,” lamented Rosa.
Neighbors mourn tragedy
Sofia, Samuel and Luzinete Ricardo da Silva, mother of the two, had lived in the house for less than a year. The woman worked as a maid, was seen as a good mother, and took care of her own father, who was weakened.
Neto owned the house and lent the property to the family. He assures that she was a good mother, and shows affection for the children:
“The community is all sorry. I liked it a lot because the animals were too needy. They came and hugged us,” he lamented.
Authorities ask for help
Neighbors called the police when they noticed the fire. The PM of Piauí took a water truck to put out the flames, but when they arrived, the entire house was consumed by fire.
Samu was also called, but only managed to enter after the fire subsided. The first rescuers found the charred bodies of the children. The two went to the IML for analysis before the burial. The children’s mother went into shock and was taken to the hospital.
