Family of 3 dies in mysterious house fire

Police in Homabay have launched investigations into the cause of a fire that burnt a couple and an infant to death in Kalithe Village, South Kagan Location on Thursday morning.

The couple, identified as Kennedy Oluoch, 41, and Vivian Oluoch, 29, died along with their three-year-old son, Denmark Oluoch, when their house caught fire at 5am.

Their bodies were found lying side by side on the bed in their one-bedroom home.

The couple had three children, two of whom were asleep at their grandfather's house at the time of the incident. 

Relatives who responded to a distress call were unable to save the family as they were repelled by the raging flames.

Instead, they watched helplessly as the fire consumed their loved ones.

Earlier, Kennedy's father, Lithe Nyauke, had walked past the house on his way to his farm.

"It is the planting season and I was making arrangements to cultivate my land. I passed my son's house but did not notice anything suspicious," he said.

At the farm, his farm hand noticed a bright light coming from the deceased family's house and alerted the old man.

Mr Nyauke said he rushed back to find out what was going on.

"The whole house was in flames. I had difficulty opening the door because it was locked from the inside," he explained.

He called his neighbours, who later helped him break into the house after the fire had died down, but it was too late.

The family suspects that someone may have killed their relatives and set fire to the house to hide the evidence.

But neighbours said the couple had argued the night before.

It is reported that the woman had just returned to her matrimonial home the day before the incident after being away due to family disputes.

Police later collected the charred remains and took them to the Homabay County Teaching and Referral Hospital mortuary for a post-mortem.

County police commander Samson Kinne said investigations into the incident were ongoing.