Muscat: A seven-year-old Omani boy and his six-year-old sister were killed after their house caught fire in Barka province on Monday afternoon, according to the Public Authority for Civil Defence and Ambulance (PACDA).
The siblings became asphyxiated after inhaling smoke that engulfed their house.
The fire was reported around 5pm in Qarhat Al Bulush village.
Firefighters were on the scene in less than 30 minutes and it took them about 30 minutes to douse the fire. The two siblings were found lying dead in their room.
The authorities concerned are investigating the cause of the fire.
A case of fire occurs every three hours in the country and 23 per cent of them are reported in residential areas, according to the National Centre for Information and Statistics (NCIS). Most of the fire incidents are caused by faulty, counterfeit or ageing electrical items including cables, according to the PACDA.
In June 2015, a 22-year-old woman and her two-month-old baby daughter died in a fire that started in the kitchen in the North Mabala area of Seeb province. The mother and baby were in a bedroom when the fire broke out. Both died of smoke inhalation.
In 2013, an Omani family, including two children, died of smoke inhalation in a fire at their home in the capital Muscat.
