A 98-year-old woman died after a fire razed part of her home in Kimaeti, Bungoma County, late Friday night, with police suspecting a candle may have sparked the deadly blaze.
The deceased, identified as Damaris Makuku Okeno, was found inside a burnt room at Bishop Uwezo family home in the Kimaeti area within Kimaeti Sub-County.
According to police, officers who responded to the incident established that household items in one room of the three-bedroom permanent house had been extensively destroyed by the fire. Authorities noted that the house had no electricity connection.
Preliminary investigations indicate the fire may have originated from a candle allegedly lit by the deceased’s daughter, who had earlier taken food to her mother.
Police said the daughter reportedly placed the lit candle on a non-functional television set positioned on a wardrobe drawer to provide lighting inside the room.
Investigators believe the candle may have fallen onto clothes stored in the wardrobe, igniting a fire that quickly spread through the room and filled the house with thick smoke.
Neighbours responded after an alarm was raised, but efforts to rescue the elderly woman were unsuccessful as she had already succumbed to the fire.
Detectives processed and documented the scene before the body was moved to Kocholia Sub-County Hospital mortuary awaiting a postmortem examination. Police said investigations into the incident are ongoing.
