Three children die in house fire (Updated)

SEMPORNA: Three young siblings, including twins, were burnt to death in a fire which destroyed a unit of workers quarters at a plantation in Borneo Pegagau near here last night.
Semporna police chief Supt Peter Umbuas said the twins, identified as Harmasius Roman and Fonsaliana, five, and their brother Amsalinus, four, were found dead in the kitchen of the house.
He said they were at home alone during the fire as their father had gone to fetch their mother at Kampung Peringkat Satu Pegagau.
"When the father left, the back door of the house was locked while the victims were in the living room and the front door was left unlocked.
“On their way home, the parents saw smoke billowing from the quarters and rushed back,” he said in a statement here today.
Peter said the father tried to rescue the three victims but failed as the fire spread quickly due to the wooden structure of the house.
The Semporna Fire and Rescue station was alerted to the fire at 7.47 pm and it was completely put out at 9.43 pm. — Bernama