A fire gutted a three-storey residential building in Ansan in Gyeonggi Province in South Korea claiming the lives of four siblings from Nigeria, aged 6-11 years.

According to Gyeonggi Disaster & Safety Headquarters, the fire started in a multifamily home in Danwon District in Ansan at 3:28 a.m. on Monday, March 27, 2023.

The fire was put out in about 40 minutes at 4:16 a.m., but the family's two-room house, about 13 pyeong (463 square feet) in area, was entirely burnt, authorities said.

Four of five siblings were from Nigeria and were found dead in a bedroom. Two girls, aged 11, and two boys, aged 6 and 7, were among the victims.

Only the youngest sibling survived with her parents.

The fire started in the family home of all seven members, but the parents were able to bring their 2-year-old daughter along with them when they fled through a window.

According to reports, the father was sleeping in his living room while the rest of the family was in their bedroom when the fire started.

The parents are currently being treated at a hospital.

According to police and fire authorities, the father saw the fire and notified his wife and five children sleeping in the bedroom together.

He then started knocking on his neighbors' doors barefoot and pouring water on the fire to extinguish it.

The father came to Korea in 2008 on a D-9 Technician visa and supported the family by collecting secondhand clothes and household goods to send to Nigeria.

His wife came to Korea in 2012 and gave birth to all five children in Korea.

According to authorities, there were neither fire extinguishers nor fire alarms in the building.

"The building is very old, but many foreigners continue to live there because it's cheap," said a pastor at Ansan Multicultural Church, which helps foreigners adjust to the area.

Officials from the local government and the Embassy of Nigeria in Korea promised to support the family on Monday.

Another 37 residents of the building, mostly foreigners, were evacuated. Six people, including three Nigerians, two Uzbekistan, and one Russian, sustained minor injuries, including smoke inhalation.

Police and fire authorities suspect the fire started from a power outlet in the living room wall but have requested further investigation by the National Forensic Service to figure out the exact cause.

"We are investigating the case remaining open to all possible causes, and an autopsy of the dead bodies will be done as well," said a police officer.

Oh my God,
What an untimely dead!

So bad, what a lost.

This is so sad

The my 2k

To bad