80-year-old man burnt beyond recognition in house fire
The charred remains of a wheelchair and furniture belonging to an 80-year-old man who was burnt to death inside his house in Lwanda village in Kanduyi constituency, Bungoma County.
What you need to know:
- The cause of the fire that killed the elderly man remains unclearly.
- The old man is said to have been alone inside the house when tragedy struck.
A sombre mood has engulfed Lwanda village in Kanduyi constituency, Bungoma County after a disabled elderly man was burnt to death inside his house on Tuesday morning.
Mzee Mark Ngoya, who was 80 years old, was burnt beyond recognition in the fire which broke out in the wee hours of the morning.
The cause of the fire that killed the elderly man remains unclearly. The old man is said to have been alone inside the house when tragedy struck.
According villagers, the old man has been living alone after his wife left with their children over persistent domestic squabbles between the couple.
Some of their children are said to have relocated to Nairobi to look for jobs.
Lwanda sub-location Chief, Robin Barasa, said the incident has left area residents in shock.
Shocked villagers
"Such an incident has never been witnessed here before and we are all in shock," he said.
Mr Barasa said that Mzee Ngoya lived peacefully with his neighbours.
"We are told that Ngoya hardly cooks in this house and most of the time he gets his food in a local hotel or from neighbours," he said.
Mr Barasa said that police have began investigating the incident.
"We are told that yesterday it seemed like he had tried to cook since there was a sufuria that looked like someone had cooked in the house," he said.
He said that Ngoya was not born disabled but had been crippled in a hit-and-run accident involving a boda-boda.
Mr Barasa called upon women to be patient and tolerant in marriages and not abandon their spouses at an advanced age.
Failed marriage
"Mzee Ngoya was a humble man who never wronged anyone. We suspect the fire was caused by a lamp that he was using," said David Ngoya, a relative of the deceased.
Diana Barasa, a granddaughter of the deceased, said her grandfather had often complained of being lonely after his marriage collapsed due to interference from relatives and neighbours.
"I once visited him and found him weeping. He complained bitterly that he was tired of living alone," she said.
Pamela Wanyama a neighbour who often offered the old man food, said he last saw the deceased on Monday evening and that he was very jovial.
"I asked him what he wanted to have for supper but he told me he had already eaten some food," Ms Wanyama said.
