Woman arrested over controversial death of six family members in Murang’a house fire

Police have arrested a woman in Murang’a County over claims of being behind a house fire that led to the death of six family members in Kandara area. On Sunday, six family members; a mother identified as Margaret Wambui, her three daughters and two grandchildren were burned to death in a controversial fire incident. According to witness reports, they heard screams coming from the house, but efforts to rescue the six were futile as the fire was enormous and had spread across the entire house. “We could not save anything by then, since the house was almost consumed by fire and it is unfortunate we lost the aged mother, together with her children and grandchildren,” one of the neighbours was quoted by People Daily. While responding to the incident, the neighbours reportedly found Wambui’s sister-in-law Alice Nyambura outside the house with all her belongings, prompting them to suspect that she was behind the fire incident. [caption id="attachment_16933" align="alignnone" width="640"] Police officers at the scene of the fire incident. [Photo: Courtesy][/caption]“We found Wambui’s step-sister outside the house and she had her items with her but she could not explain how she managed to escape and why she had made no efforts to save the others,” a witness told the media. The angry residents ganged up against Nyambura and threatened to lynch her, but police intervened and locked her up. Area police boss Ali Nuno noted that Nyambura will help police unearth what happened, adding that anyone found to have played a role in the death of the six will be dealt with in accordance to the law. “We will not make any conclusions for now until we get a comprehensive report from the investigators,” he said.