Cairo – Four young siblings, the youngest of them is a toddler, lost their lives on Tuesday when a fire broke out in their flat in Egypt’s southeastern Giza province, local Al-Wafd newspaper reported online.
Their bodies were moved to the local coroner for further investigation, the report added.
The divorced mother of the four, who lives alone with her children, was absent when the fire erupted, local El-Watan newspaper reported, citing witnesses.
The neighbours broke into the flat to find the charred body of the toddler and the other three young sisters suffocated. They were already dead by the time they arrived at the nearest hospital, the report added.
Preliminary findings revealed that the fire was caused by a short circuit.
Children have been victims of recurrent incidents in Egyptian homes in recent years.
A similar incident took place in June last year when six children were killed and 15 others injured in Cairo, also by a fire caused by a short circuit.
Six months later, three young siblings were killed when a two-storey building collapsed in the southern Beni Suef province.