Two brothers, 5 and 10, die and their mother injured in Portmore house fire

Two brothers, aged five and 10, perished in a fire that destroyed their one-room dwelling in the community of Mexico in Gregory Park, Portmore, St Catherine, on Monday night.

The 10-year-old is believed to have been autistic.

Their mother, who was also inside the house at the time, suffered major burns and was rushed to hospital.

Reports are that the fire started shortly after 10:00 p.m. while the children and their mother had retired to bed.

Despite frantic efforts by neighbours to extinguish the blaze, the dwelling was quickly engulfed and destroyed before firefighters from the Waterford Fire Station could respond.

Residents said the fire spread so rapidly that they were unable to get close enough to assist.

"The fire spread so fast, there is nothing we could, we couldn’t even get close to throw water on the building," said a neighbour.

St Catherine East Central Member of Parliament Alando Terrelonge, who visited the scene, described the incident as tragic.

"This is such a tragic scene tonight, no family should be going through this, it really an unfortunate set of circumstances that has led to the death two children," he said.

Terrelonge said he and councillor for the division, Joy Brown, will provide support to the family and will also engage Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie for additional assistance.

The Jamaica Fire Brigade is conducting an investigation to determine the cause of the blaze.

- Ruddy Mathison

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