Two children die in house fire, one survives

AMMAN — Two children died and a third suffered smoke inhalation in a fire that broke out in a house in the capital’s Jabal Marikh suburb at noon on Thursday, official sources said.

The victims, two boys aged three and four years, died of smoke inhalation during the blaze that destroyed their entire apartment, located on the third floor, a Civil Defence Department (CDD) official said.

A 16-year-old girl also suffered smoke inhalation but was listed in good condition, the CDD official told The Jordan Times.

“The children were playing around a kerosene heater when it overturned and caused a fire,” the official explained.

The fire spread through the entire 120-square-metre home, he added.

A second source told The Jordan Times that the victims’ family had left the house for a short period to run errands and had locked the door.

“This prevented the children from escaping from the burning house,” the second source said.

Firefighters broke the lock, pulled the children out and “administered first aid to them, but it was too late”, according to the source.

“They were already dead by the time we arrived at hospital,” he added.

This is the second heater accident to claim the lives of children in less than a week.

On Sunday, a gas leakage from a heater caused a fire that claimed the lives of two children under the age of 10 in the town of Bireen in Zarqa Governorate.

CDD personnel treated five other family members for smoke inhalation.