By Devon Evans, Gleaner WriterRESIDENTS OF St. Ann's Bay were plunged into a state of shock and grief on Wednesday night, after three siblings were burnt to death inside their one room board house in the parish capital.
The gruesome deaths of six-year-old Yakeeny Moses, two-year-old Shinell Moses, and 10-month-old Lenworth Moses Jnr., not only brought tears to the eyes of many, but has again vividly highlighted the danger of leaving young children unprotected at home, especially at nights.
Eight children have perished in fires since the start of the year, while fires claimed the lives of 24 children in 1999, 27 in 2000 and 13 in 2002.
Wednesday night's blaze, believed to have been caused by an electrical short circuit, began shortly after 10:00 p.m. and quickly engulfed the house with the three children locked inside by their father, who reportedly left them to go on an errand.
Neighbours who rushed to the scene could do nothing to save them as the heat was too intense for anyone to enter the building.
In the meantime, the St. Ann's Bay police are seeking to ascertain the whereabouts of the children's father, Lenworth Moses, who reportedly fled the area on Wednesday night after being told about the fire.
The children were reportedly left in the care of their father by their mother Erica Grant, a bartender, at about 9:45 Wednesday morning when she left for work in Runaway Bay.
It is understood that later in the evening, the father gave the children dinner then locked them inside the house and went away.
Reports are that shortly after 10:00 p.m. neighbours saw the house on fire but the flames quickly spread through the wooden structure.
"I was the first one who got there," said Courtney Thompson, a neighbour. "But when I tried to enter the house, I realised that the door was locked and it took me a little time to hit down the door, but I couldn't enter because the whole place was already under fire."
Thompson said that all he could do was to stand by, watch and cry openly because he knew the children were in the house.
The distraught mother, who visited the scene yesterday morning, wept uncontrollably, while sifting through the rubble of burnt clothing with a piece of stick. She had to be consoled by relatives and friends.
"I was at my workplace sometime after 10 when somebody told me that my house was burnt down and all my children had died," Grant sobbed. "I feel down. I don't know how I am going to cope with losing three children at one time."
TREATED FOR SHOCK
The police had to take Grant to the St. Ann's Bay Hospital where she was treated for shock. Among the scores of persons who visited the death scene yesterday were councillor for the St. Ann's Bay division, Dalas Dickenson, who expressed his condolence to the relatives, as well as Methodist Minister, the Reverend Novette Headly.
The Cloisters Property, where the house was located, is owned by the Methodist Church in Jamaica. Students from the nearby Wesley College Nursing School also visited and offered words of comfort to the grieving mother.
