A five-year-old girl was on Thursday burnt to death in an inferno at Ogbogoro, outskirts of Yenegoa, capital of Bayelsa State.
According to eyewitnesses, the deceased child, simply identified as Princess, was a daughter of a policeman attached to the Osiama Division of the State Police Command in Southern Ijaw local government area of the state.
The inferno which occurred at about 7.30pm was said to have been caused by a burning candle.
At the time of the incident, sources said the mother of the deceased was in the market selling crayfish while the father was away at his duty post in the creek of the state.
It was learnt that the sister to the deceased, who is a Junior Secondary School (JSS) student, had made use of the candle light in solving her school homework.
She was said to have left the candle burning and went out to get some foodstuff for her siblings.
“While she was away, the candle fell and set ablaze the fabrics on the floor of the room. The deceased and her 7-year old brother, Henry, were in the room but attempt by the latter to wake the sister proved abortive,” the source told Vanguard.