Three children die in house fire in Zambia
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Zambianobserver
Three children from one family, aged six, nine and 11, died in a house fire in Nalubwe village, Kapiri Mposhi district, Zambia. Zambia Central Province police say their grandmother could not open the door, which was tied with wire, and are investigating the circumstances of the fire.
Three children from the same family died in a fire in a thatched-roof house on Saturday evening, 24 October, in Nalubwe village, Kapiri Mposhi, Zambia. Jonathan Lyampali, 11, Francina Lyampali, 9, and Roydah Lyampali, 6, were sleeping in the house when the fire broke out between 8pm and 9pm, Lemekani Chirwa, Central Province police commander, confirmed, according to Zambian Watch.
The children’s mother, Eunice Shensempe, said she had left the house at about 8pm to go to Kapandwe market, after closing the door without locking it and without leaving a fire burning inside. Their grandmother, Roydah Musema, heard the children calling for help and tried to rescue them, but reportedly found the door tied with a wire, according to police.
The bodies were taken to the mortuary at Kabwe Central Hospital for post-mortem examinations. Police are investigating the cause of the fire and the circumstances in which the door was secured in this way. The parents had separated in September 2026; the mother had then moved to her parents’ home in Nalubwe with three of their four children, while the eldest stayed with his father, Zambian Watch reports.
