Four children died in a house fire in Thompson on Wednesday, police reported on Thursday.
RCMP officers and Thompson Fire and Emergency Services personnel responded to a house fire in Thompson Wednesday evening and found a home fully engulfed in flames.
When emergency workers arrived, a 41-year-old woman, who had escaped the fire, told officers that her five children also lived in the house, and that her 13-year-old daughter had climbed out of the second-floor window and jumped to escape the fire, but that her four other children were still inside the home.
Emergency workers made it to the main floor before they were forced to exit the home due to the extent of the smoke and fire and according to RCMP, once the fire was brought under control, first responders reentered the home and located the four other children.
A 10-year-old female, a nine year-old male, a seven-year-old male, and a four-year-old male were all transported to hospital, but all later succumbed to injuries sustained in the fire.
“I offer my sincere condolences to the family, to the community, and to everyone who is grieving today,” RCMP Assistant Commissioner Rob Hill said in a statement.
“This is a heartbreaking tragedy that will have a lasting impact on so many within Thompson and throughout the entire province.”
The 41-year-old woman, and 13-year-old girl, as well as a 62-year-old man who was also in the house when the fire broke out were all taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
The cause of the fire has yet to be determined, and Thompson RCMP along with the Office of the Fire Commissioner continue to investigate.
