‘I could not let her die’: Rescuer recounts saving child as two siblings perish in Kiambu fire
Three men in Kiambu, Kenya, successfully rescued a three-year-old girl from a burning apartment building. Tragically, the rescuers were unable to save the child's two siblings, who perished in the fire.
Why it matters
The incident highlights both the heroism of local community members and the dangers of residential fire safety in urban areas.
Rescuers Joash Ondieki and Kevin Bahati, who helped save a three-year-old girl from a burning fourth-floor apartment in Gachie, Kiambu/ SCREENGRAB A desperate cry for help from a three-year-old girl trapped in a burning fourth-floor apartment prompted three men to risk their lives in a rescue that saved her but could not save her two siblings.
Video footage watched by the Star from the incident on Saturday shows one of the rescuers battling intense heat and smoke as he holds the child’s hand and lowers her towards the third floor, where two other men wait to receive her.
The men then rush the girl to hospital, where she receives first aid.
Joash Ondieki, one of the rescuers, said he could not bear the thought of failing the child as she pleaded for help from inside the burning apartment.
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