Two brothers die, sisters injured in St James house fire

Two brothers were killed in a fire at their wooden house in Paradise Norwood, St James late Friday night and their sisters injured.

Investigators say their mother had left them alone in the house.

She has since been arrested.

Javinchie Palmer was eight years old and his brother, Tyler McLeod, one year old.

One of their injured sisters was Tyler's twin. The other was six years old.

Other people in adjacent houses in the yard raised an alarm after detecting that there was a fire.

 According to Keneisha Vaccianna, Assistant Superintendent at the Freeport Fire station, at 11:55 p.m on Friday, the brigade received a call about a house on fire and responded with two fire units.

"Upon our arrival, the team observed a wooden structure fully engulfed with flames. Firefighting operations commenced immediately and during cooling down, what appears to be the remains of two bodies were discovered,” Vaccianna told The Gleaner.

On Saturday, National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang visited the scene.

Chang, the member of parliament for St James North Western is also acting as Head of Government in the absence of Prime Minister Andrew Holness who is now in China on a working visit.

“It just reflects some of the social problems," said Chang of the incident.

"I am sure it’s not only one family in Jamaica who, on a weekend, is going to leave their babies inside the house, and that's the risk we take when this happened. It’s a reality of life in the circumstance,” said Chang.

The MP said he will be assisting the victims.

We want to hear from you! Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169, email us at editors@gleanerjm.com or onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com.