The victims include an 80-year-old woman, her 52-year-old daughter, and their 19-year-old house help. According to villagers, the three were asleep in their bedrooms when the tragic incident occurred.
Residents said the cause of the fire is yet to be established, though initial accounts suggest it may have started in the kitchen of the four-bedroomed bungalow.
Witnesses reported that family members were jolted awake by a loud blast believed to have originated from a cooking gas cylinder. When they rushed to check what had happened, they found the house already engulfed in flames.
An alarm was raised, drawing the attention of neighbors and members of the public who hurried to the scene and made desperate attempts to put out the fire. However, their efforts were overwhelmed by the intensity of the blaze, which spread rapidly and consumed the entire house within a short time.
Firefighters from the Kericho County Government later arrived and managed to extinguish the inferno, but it was already too late to save the occupants.
Senior police officers from Sosiot Police Station visited the scene, with authorities indicating that a detailed briefing would be issued as investigations into the cause of the fire continue.
The charred remains of the three victims were recovered on Saturday morning and taken to the Kericho County Referral Hospital mortuary as the community continues to mourn the devastating loss.
The tragedy has left Kapnandet village in grief, with residents calling for thorough investigations and greater awareness on household fire safety to prevent similar incidents in the future.
