Residents of Ifesowapo community in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital have been thrown into mourning after a woman and her four children were burnt to death, Wednesday night, as fire gutted their apartment.

Luck, however, shone on one of the children who was hospitalised at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital for an undisclosed ailment, and their father who was away from home as at the time the unfortunate incident occurred.

The tragedy reportedly struck after the candle the family lit burnt out and started burning items in the room while they were fast asleep, then spread to their room and burnt them to death.

Residents say the arrival of men of the State Fire Service could not stop the damage that had already been done.

Speaking with newsmen at the scene of the incident, Chairman of the Community, Awodun Yinka, said: “We didn’t know about the tragedy on time. By the time we saw the smoke and rushed to the apartment to see what was happening, thick smoke had already enveloped the apartment and we could not rescue any member of the family. It was then we made the distress calls to the office of the State Fire Service, but by time they arrived, the havoc had been done.”

He confirmed that the tragedy was caused by the candlelight, which spread across the room while the family was already asleep.

Ruling out the possibility of a power surge, he said that ” the whole Tanke area has been in blackout for past few days due to the rainstorm that damaged some electric poles.”