Sharjah: Firefighters are sifting through the charred rubble of a gutted, blackened home in Al Ghafya area here to find the cause of one of the most heart-wrenching fire tragedies in recent memory.
Two Pakistani brothers, aged 8 and 5, died when an explosion reportedly rocked their home which then burst into a fireball, said relatives who escaped the carnage as flames raced through hallways and bedrooms, devouring everything in their path.
Brothers Mohammad Salman, eight, and Mohammad Adnan, six, burnt to death when fire ravaged the dwelling around 2pm on Saturday.
Two families lived in the house, an official at Sharjah Police told Gulf News.
Sharjah Civil Defence were quickly on the scene and were able to rescue others living in the house, but flames claimed the boys, whose bodies were taken to a forensic laboratory following the blaze.
The grieving parents told Gulf News that it is numbing to lose two sons at the same time.
The boy’s mother Rozyana, 31, said she sustained minor burns and was taken by ambulance to Al Qasimi hospital.
She was later discharged.
The mother recalled that she was helping her sons in the family home on Saturday to prepare for an exam on Sunday at Springdale Indian School where the boys were enrolled in Grade 1 and Kindergarten 2.
When she decided to take a brief respite from the afternoon studying session, calamity struck.
“I went to wash my hands, then I heard a loud sound like an explosion and the smoke was covering the place. I could not go inside the house because of the smoke. I guessed that my sons went out when they heard the sound,” the mother said. “Later, I missed them. I called my husband to come and help.”
Husband and father Mohammad Arfan, 33, was working at Emirates Driving Institute at the time of the blaze.
When his wife called, he said: “I rushed immediately to the house and looked for my sons. I did not find them. I asked the firefighters to allow me to go inside to find my sons. At 5.30pm, firefighters found the body of my sons and informed me. It was difficult.”
Dealing with the aftermath of his son’s deaths is made harder as life continues on without them in a daily routine.
On Sunday, the school bus driver called Arfan asking about the kids.
The father said he had to inform the driver that his two sons will no longer need the bus services nor go to school because they perished in the freak blaze.
Just saying the words, Arfan said, filled his eyes with tears.
The two boys were the only children in the family.
Arfan described his sons as “full of life, they made the place full with happiness. They had a strong bond between them. They loved each other and helped each other and offered their help to everyone who needed it.”
Funeral prayers were held on Sunday at Al Sahaba mosque, and the boys were buried in Sharjah cemetery.
The Red Crecent visited the family and provided them with two funeral tents for men and women as well as food and beverages for those visiting the family to pay their respects.
The Red Crescent, the father said, has also offered to provide the family with shelter and asked the father to find a house, and they will bear the cost.
Arfan said surviving family members will have to rebuild their lives as the fire claimed all of the family documents including official documents, passports and Emirates ID cards.
Investigations continue.
