By Chernor Alimamy Kamara
Three Children sleeping inside a house at Brigette Village, outside Waterloo in the Western Rural Area were reported to have died after fire engulfed the building in the afternoon of Tuesday 22nd August this year.
Nadiatu Bendu aged 3, Fatmata Turay 2, and Mohamed Turay 12, all perished.
According to the Media Officer and Spokesperson of the Waterloo Police Division, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Alieu Jalloh, 6-year-old Philip Turay and his mother, Mabinty Turay suffered severe burns.
He said the injured were in critical condition and were taken to the Tombo Government Hospital and then to Princess Christian Maternity Hospital at Fourah Bay Road in Freetown for further treatment.
He said the Police are yet to ascertain the cause of the fire and have reached the landlord to help the Police with investigations. He said the building was not even connected to a power supply and its occupants told him that no one was using inflammable gas.
ASP Jalloh said he was informed that the compound consists of over 200 (two hundred) residents who have been rendered homeless due to the outbreak and are currently calling for assistance from people and philanthropists to survive. He stated that a huge amount of money and property could not be accounted for and that one of the victims told him that her husband was lying sick in the house when the fire started, and neighbors had to force their way in to rescue him.
Just recently on the 19th of August, 2023, a 6-year-old Sia Momoh of BBC Compound, Bolima in Waterloo was pronounced dead after she fell and drowned inside a deep and unprotected water well in their compound.
Politico tried to establish contact with the Chairman of the Western Rural District Council, Kasho Holland-Cole for his reaction to happenings around Waterloo including the latest fire incident at Tombo, but he could not respond to phone calls or text messages.
The body of 6-year-old girl Sia Momoh of BBC Compound, Bolima in Waterloo was recently discovered in a water well in their compound.
The Landlord of the house Mr. Dankay, who reportedly removed the lid from the well in question, was reportedly on the run.
On the 17th of July 2023, the Police in Waterloo said they were informed of another drowning incident involving 13-year-old Abdul Razak Kamara of Matainkay Village, outside Waterloo. The teenager was pronounced dead at a place called San San Water, following an outdoor swimming exercise with his peers that went tragically wrong.
3-year-old Osman Bangura of Monkey Bush, Waterloo, also lost his life after he fell into a water well near his home. Police reports on the findings of the incidents highlighted have so far not been made public.
Copyright (2023) Politico (25/08/23)
