Saudi Gazette report

AL-AHSA — Seven members of a family died in a fire caused by a mobile charger connected to electricity. The fire broke out last Monday in a house in the city of Hofuf in Al-Ahsa governorate.

The victims are six siblings, including Laila Hussein Al-Jibran, Iman Hussein, Latifa Hussein, Ahmed Hussein, Reda Hussein, Abdul-Ilah Hussein and their nephew Hussein Ali Al-Jibran. The deceased included Latifa Hussein, a bride whose marriage contract was held last Friday night and who was waiting for her wedding within 72 hours. The bodies of the dead were buried in the presence of a huge number of people.

The victims' uncle, Sadiq Al-Jibran, said that the fire was caused by a mobile phone charger igniting in a sofa in one of the rooms, and then the flames spread to the ceiling decor, devouring the rest of the two-story house.

According to Haider Al-Hassan, a relative of the victims, the fire started with the melting of the mobile charger, which caused the sofas in the room to catch fire. When one of the sons noticed the outbreak of the fire, he informed his uncle Basil, who tried to act quickly by bringing water to extinguish the fire, but he did not realize the seriousness of the situation and the speed of the engulfing fire.

When father Hussein Al-Jibran noticed the thick smoke billowing, he opened the doors in an attempt to save his family, but he lost his balance and fell, and his son Basil was able to help him and get him out with his mother.

Haider said that the toxic smoke spread quickly inside the house, seeping into the closed rooms, and smoke inhalation caused the death of all the seven family members. None of the victims did suffer burns as the death was due to suffocation from the toxic smoke.

Though the Civil Defense teams responded quickly to the incident, and made great efforts to extinguish the fire but could not rescue the survivors. Haider said that the mother had left the hospital after improving her condition.