Disaster has hit the Nigerian community in the state of Maryland, USA on Tuesday morning as two twin toddlers and their grandparents are ...
The Omogbe family’s melted and charred possessions were piled in the yard as investigators worked to determine what caused the fire that gutted the home and devastated the family.
“It’s a terrible way to begin the year,” said Festus Sowho, a family friend who visited the blackened house in Chillum, Md., on Tuesday. “The worst thing that can happen to anybody is to lose children.”
The twins — Anna and Israel Omijie — were pulled from the house by firefighters and taken to Children’s National Medical Center, where they were pronounced dead. Their grandmother, Caroline Omogbo, 55, and grandfather, Samson Omogbo, 63, died at the scene.
The twins’ mother, who jumped from the window, remained in the hospital as of Tuesday afternoon with head injuries, friends said.
Officials say there were 3 additional people in the home at the time of the fire, the mother of the twins jumped from the 2nd floor and was taken to an area hospital for treatment. The other two escaped without any injuries.
Samson Omogbo went to the U.S at least 15 years ago from Nigeria after winning a green-card lottery. He started a furniture-restoration business and was able to take his wife and 7 children to the U.S shortly after his arrival. They moved into the house last year.
