Police authorities in Kwara State, yesterday, pledged to investigate the death by fire of some family members at Oke- Fomo area of Ilorin, Ilorin West Local Council of the state.

The incident, which occurred at about 1:00 a.m. on Sunday, claimed the lives of a man, Kamaldeen, his two sons, while the wife, Khadijat and her daughter were sent to the trauma centre of University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH).

When The Guardian visited the hospital at about 2:30 p.m., they were yet to come out of coma.

A Consultant, Cardio Thoracic surgeon and his colleague in Plastic Surgery at the UITH said the two cases were not beyond redemption but with a caveat that the costs could be enormous to keep them alive.

At press time, nobody could disclose how the strange fire engulfed the victims' 'face me and face you' apartment.

A neighbour, Mallam Bello Saheed, said: “At the middle of the night we started hearing sporadic sound from the room with all the windows and the door under firm lock.

“We mobilised ourselves thinking that some suspected robbers had invaded the said room. But we started perceiving strong odour as of a burnt animal. We had to force the door open and saw a thick fire inside the room.”

Saheed, who added that the wife could have escaped with minor burns, but for her insistence on pulling out the surviving daughter from the fire, urged good spirited members of the public to promptly come to the aid of the survivors.

According to him, the cost of managing the almost 90 degree burns on the bodies of mother and daughter could overwhelm members of the family members.

Contacted, spokesperson for the state Police Command, Superintendent of Police (SP) Ajayi Okasanmi promised dutiful investigation into the matter.