Daijiworld Media Network - Fujairah
Fujairah, Jan 26: In a heart wrenching tragedy, a mother lost all her seven children on January 22. The young children died of suffocation after a fire broke out in their house in Rul Dadna district in Fujairah.
In an interview with Gulf News, Salima Al Suraidi says her throat and lungs still ache due to the smoke inhalation but that matters least compared to the emotional trauma she is experiencing. “Getting through each day has become a struggle as memories of my children flood my mind. All my children died and I could not do anything for them,” she says.
Salima who lost her husband four years ago to cancer was single handedly raising her seven children - four girls and three boys aged between 5 to 13.
On the fateful night of January 21, she asked her children to go to bed as they had to go to school early. While the girls slept with her, the boys slept in the adjacent room.
However, that night the boys begged to spend some more time with her and chatted about their dreams of what they would become when they grew up. Salima asked them to go to bed and they kissed her before leaving. A moment later her son Ahmad reminded her to tell her ‘dua’ (prayer) and went to bed, leaving the door open as her other son Khalifa was sacred of darkness.
Salima who had undergone a surgery took medication and retired to bed. She woke again to check on her twin daughters Sumaiya and Sara suffering from flu and cough. After applying ointment and olive oil to thm, she went back to sleep.
Fire in the wee hours
Salima says she woke again at around 3.45 am on January 22 as she experienced difficulty in breathing. The room was dark and she put on the torch on her mobile and saw her daughter Shouk not moving, with a fixed stare on her face.
She rushed to her twins Sumaiya and Sara who were dead and her other daughter Shaikha who was sleeping next to her sister in the same room breathing her last.
Salima then rushed to check on her sons in the next room to find Khalifa and Ahmad dead while Ali had managed to walk to the living room and fallen unconscious.
In a bid to save Ali and Shaikha, who were struggling for life, Salima tried to revive them by pouring water but all attempts were in vain.
Salima managed to open the main door after several attempts and called out to her maid and her brother Rashid for help.
“I felt myself losing control. I had pain in my chest because of the smoke. My brother rushed to my house and by then a thick smoke had engulfed the house. He covered his face with his ghotra (headdress) as he tried to save my children but they had already died of suffocation,” said Salima.
Her brother called the ambulance and emergency services.
The police have confirmed that faulty living room lights were the cause of the deadly fire. Colonel Saif Rashid Al Zahmi, director of Dibba Fujairah Police, told Gulf News that the police forensic laboratory investigated the cause of the fire that started in the living room and spread to other areas of the house. Smoke quickly engulfed the house which prevented the mother as well as neighbours from rescuing the children.
Major-General Mohammad Ganem Al Kaabi, commander-in-chief of Fujairah police, said they received the emergency call too late at 5.40 am, making it difficult to save the children despite arriving on the scene in record time.
Maj-Gen Al Kaabi urged residents to install smoke detectors to avoid such tragic incidents.
Sheikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and deputy supreme commander of the UAE armed forces, ordered to provide all necessary care and support for the grieving mother.
Salima says she prays for the souls of her children and strength to endure her loss.
She has tanked the leadership and the UAE people for their help and support.