The stories from witnesses are heartbreaking. The mother who died along with her two children in a fire in Vila Cubatao in Joinville, northern Santa Catarina, this Friday morning (24), laid down on her children to try to save them from the fire. The victims died in the bathroom of the house.
The incident occurred around 7:40 am this Friday. The children’s father and the woman’s husband went to work at a nearby construction site and left the three at home. The flames quickly engulfed the house and the family could not be saved.
The mother and children ran to the bathroom, the only stone room in the house. There, Janaina Teixeira placed Brenda and Brian da Silva Teixeira, aged six and eight, in a barrel of water to prevent the flames from reaching their children, and lay on top of them in an attempt to protect them.
The bathroom was left in ruins and the house was completely destroyed. When the children’s father returned home, he became desperate and was taken to the emergency room.
Masons tried to contain the fire
Until the fire service arrived, masons working at a nearby construction site tried to put out the fire by using an excavator to cover the rubble.
“We tried to throw sand with an excavator and minimize the flames, but there was no time. It was very fast, we couldn’t save anyone, we couldn’t do anything,” said one of the workers trying to contain the fire.
The mother of the family was not at work that Friday and was making coffee when the fire started. According to neighbors, she worked in a bakery. It has not yet been possible to determine what caused the fire.
*Information provided by Matheus Furlan, presenter of Tribuna do Povo.
Source: Ndmais