A house fire left five children dead after their mother tried to save them from the inferno five months after their last home was destoryed in a blaze.
The blaze broke out at about 3 am on Friday in St Louis, Missouri at Sabrina Dunigan’s one-bed apartment.
All five of her children – aged nine, twins aged seven, four, and two – died.
Dunigan, 34, had left the house to pick someone up, and came back to the blaze.
She tried to save her children but was unsuccessful.
The victims were identified as nine-year-old Deontay Dunigan, seven-year-old twins Heaven and Nevaeh Dunigan, four-year-old Jabari Johnson, and two-year-old Loyal Dunigan, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Five crews of firefighters rushed into the building and found two children dead and three unconscious on the floor.
Two of the children passed away as they were rushed out of the property and the fifth died on the way to the hospital, Daily Mail reports.
The children’s grandparents, Greg Dunigan and Vanicia Mosley, were also asleep in the property at the time.
They couldn’t save the children because of the growing flames and eventually jumped out the window.
Residents of the three other units in the building managed to safely escape.
Friends, family, and neighbours gathered for a prayer vigil later that day.
Sheila Dunigan, the mother’s aunt, told KSDK : “Sabrina cared for her kids. She loved those kids and we all loved those kids.
“Our family has never taken a hit like this, ever. We are devastated. We are broken.
“People are judging my niece. Please, don’t judge her. Pray for her, that’s all I’m asking right now.”
Aunt Etta McCray said: “I just want everybody to pray for my niece because this is a tragedy.”
The Dunigans had moved into the apartment five months ago after their previous home was also destroyed in a fire.
In an interview from October of 2019, Sabrinna told local news her abusive ex-boyfriend had set fire to a previous apartment.
She said at the time: “He was mad about another guy that I talk to. I don’t understand because he’s now talking to another woman.
“We’re just telling him he has to leave, and he said he was gonna set the house on fire.”
She added: “Yes, I’m mad. He sat down the street and waited until we left to get milk for the children. He then came back and set the house on fire like he said he was gonna do.”
Authorities are investigating the case of the fire and say it started in the front room of the apartment.
The East St Louis School District, where three of the kids were students, released a statement.
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