US: House catches fire, three Indian teen siblings die
A house in Collierville, US, caught fire two days before Christmas and three Indian siblings lost their lives. The siblings were identified as Sharron (17), Joy (15), and Aaron (14). They were the kids of Srinivas Naik and Sujatha, who hail from Nalgonda district of Telangana. A woman named Kari Coudriet also died in the mishap, while her husband and son had a narrow escape.
The house was in festive mood when fire broke
A statement released by Coudriet's Collierville Bible Church explained the series of events. The fire started at around 11 PM. "The Coudriet family was hosting and celebrating Christmas with three teenagers attending an Academy here in the States," it read. Kari's husband Danny and her son Cole got out in time. The statement revealed the Naiks are missionaries in India.
Mourning takes over neighborhood, local recalls the incident
While the cause of the fire is unknown, a neighbor Scott Symons spoke about the chaos. The fire raged on for 20-30 minutes before it was brought under control. A cloud of heavy smoke covered the house. Symons said locals couldn't figure out how many people were inside the house. "The house went up really, really fast. It was bad," Symons said.
School of the teens speaks about grief of parents
Notably, Cole informed fire authorities the house didn't have a working smoke detector. The Indian teenagers went to Town of French Camp for studies and their parents had returned to Nalgonda last year. They are now on their way to the US. In a statement, the school said they couldn't fathom the grief of the parents, who sent their precious kids to US.
Meanwhile, Church asks for privacy and discretion
"At this time, we are asking for privacy and discretion regarding the Missionary children. The family is en route from India and many of the details of the events are still being communicated to the family. Please respect this family," the church's statement read.
