Seven  family have been burnt to death after the house they were sleeping in caught fire in Mkushi. The accident happened on Friday about 01:30 hours at Mwitwa Farms near the Great North Road and Mkushi Turn- Off area.

While the house was engulfed by flames, they shouted for help and failed to come out of the structure made of mud and grass. Their charred bodies were found in one corner near the door lumped together, an indication they struggled to come out of the one-room house. Central Province commissioner of police Joel Njase, Central Province Permanent Secretary Chanda Kabwe and Mkushi district commissioner Luke Mwamba confirmed their deaths in separate interviews yesterday.

Mr Njase named the dead as Natasha Musonda, 10, Ophen Musonda, 8, Kennedy Daka, 6, Sharon Daka, 9, and Messiah Daka, 4. Others are Evelyn Chibuye, 4, and their 57-year-old grandmother Froyda Chisenga. “At the moment, we still don’t know what caused the fire, we are still investigating this matter,” Mr Njase said. “We are yet to do forensic investigations to establish what happened.” Mr Njase said at the time the accident happened, Matilda Chisanga, whose house had been burnt, had visited a sick sister. Mr Njase said preliminary investigations reveal that there were no candles or a fire that were lit in the house.

“There is a possibility it [fire] could have been lit from outside,” he said. “But we are yet to establish the actual cause.” And Mr Kabwe, who rushed to Mkushi, said Government is saddened by the deaths and it is mourning with the bereaved family. “To lose seven people from one family is not easy. As Government, we are saddened by this loss,” Mr Kabwe said. Mr Kabwe said Government has taken over the responsibilities of providing food and logistics for the funeral and it will provide the coffins. And Mr Mwamba said the deaths of the seven members of one family is one of the worst disasters in Mkushi in recent years.