Four children have been killed in a fire that burned down their family’s rental house in Batu, East Java, during a power outage that started at 9:45 p.m. Tuesday.

Rahma Ramdhani, 10, Fathinah Sholihah, 9, Aniza Dzahro, 7, and Anaufal Nasrulloh were killed in their sleep during the fire that was reportedly caused by candles at their house on Jl. Hasanuddin in Junrejo, Batu, on Wednesday.

Their parents, Abdullah, 35, and Herlina, 34, survived, as well as their two youngest children. The family of eight had lived in the house for two years.

Neighborhood unit (RT) 02 head Nur Fatoni said he had witnessed the fire as his house was only 20 meters away.

“I was asleep in my house when I heard shouts for help from Pak Abdullah’s house,” Nur told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday

“The fire got bigger. The locals helped to contain the fire and firefighters came to put it out quicker,” Nur said.

He said the fire started in the study room and the front room of the house, where the four children slept.

“The information that we got was that they [Abdullah’s family] lit candles for light during the power outage. The parents could not save their four children because they slept in a different room,” Nur said

Batu Police criminal investigation unit head Adj. Comr. Anton Widodo said the police were still investigating the cause of the fire. (ami)

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