2 Kenyan Students Die in Virginia Inferno
BY PETER ORENGO, posted May 17, 2011
NAIROBI-Kenya_International students at Liberty University in Virginia are mourning the loss of two Kenyan men who died in a Lynchburg house fire Sunday morning after a graduation party.
The students Victor Kwatemba, who joined the Liberty University in Virginia this year (2011) and Philemon Abayo Onyango, who has been with the University for more than two years had just come from a party to celebrate the graduation of other Kenyans when they met their fate.
According to reports from the local media, fire officials in Lynchburg, said two males died inside a basement that caught fire on Valleydale Drive Sunday morning. The police said four other people managed to escape the engulfing fire.
"The call to fire 911 came in around 5:30 a.m. to 119 Valleydale Drive. Three people who were upstairs and one person in the basement got out uninjured," said Battalion Chief Keith Johnson adding that crews arrived within six minutes.
The cause of the fire is still under police investigation.
However, sketchy reports from Kenyans who live in the area and study at Liberty University, a predominantly Christian institution, said the two dead Kenyans had earlier in the evening joined other Kenyans in a graduation party that was celebrating Kenyans who earned their degrees from Liberty U.
The party was held at a venue or residence a few miles away from the house where the victims died.
Inferno
The report has it that in the wee hours of the morning (Sunday morning), the party ended at about 4:00 a.m. and most party revelers, including Victor and Philemon, and a lady friend, departed to Philemon's residence which was a rented basement room of a stand-alone 3-bedroom house.
The main house was occupied by a couple with their son and dog. The couple that occupied the main house (upstairs) explained that they were awakened by their barking dog, and they realized that smoke was belching into the house.
Upon reaching out to help the occupants at the basement, the lady was found having gotten out of the window and there was no hope of rescuing the two young men due to overwhelming smoke.
The police and paramedic arrived, only to find that Victor and Philemon had died in the basement room. The police are yet to release the findings of the post-mortem, examiners report and other tests undertaken to establish the true cause of the fire.
At home Kenyans were saddened by the horrendous tragedy as they await the outcome of the police investigation.
According to Dr. Ben Chepkoit, who has been liaising with the University officials, the university will provide detailed report as soon as police investigation is received, which is expected by Tuesday, May 17th 2011.
Upon receipt of police clearance, the next of kin and family, and the Kenyans at Liberty University, will organize for memorial service, which will be announced by Wednesday this week.
Sources:
The Daily Nation
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