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A four-year-old boy of Lumezi District has died after a house fire engulfed a grass-thatched family home while he was asleep inside. Little Lameck Banda was sleeping in the family hut as his grandmother, Justina Banda, prepared supper yesterday evening. After putting the meal on the fire, Justina realised she had no salt and briefly left the house to borrow some from a nearby neighbour, leaving the child asleep inside. On her return, she found the house engulfed in flames. She screamed for help and rushed towards the burning hut, but the fire had already consumed the structure. Villagers gathered and attempted to extinguish the fire in an effort to rescue the child. However, by the time the flames were put out, Lameck had died inside the burnt house. Eastern Province Police Commanding Officer ROBERTSON MWEEMBA confirmed the incident to Kalemba, saying it occurred between 19:00 hours and 19:30 hours yesterday at Kasote Village in Lumezi District. Mr. MWEEMBA said the matter was reported to Lumezi Police Post at around 20:40 hours by the child’s uncle, Moses Nyirenda, aged 35. He said police officers visited the scene and found the child’s body extensively burnt. “On physical inspection, the body of the deceased was found to have been extensively burnt,” Mr. MWEEMBA said. Mr. MWEEMBA said the body has since been taken to Lumezi District Hospital mortuary, where a post-mortem examination will be conducted as investigations continue.