HAUNTING photos show small handprints etched onto blackened windows where a blaze claimed the lives of two trapped sisters in Colombia.
Antonela Sanchez, four, and Kilery Ibarra Salazar, nine, screamed as they were burned alive despite their dad suffering burns to 40 per cent of his body as he desperately tried to save them.
A fan in the siblings’ bedroom burst into flames while they were sleeping, according to Blu Radio.
Firefighters were called after the fire broke out in the city of Barranquilla, in the northern Colombian department of Atlantico.
The girls’ dad, Jose Antonio Sanchez Naranjo, 30, “tried to save them but the fire was very fast and he did not have enough time,” according to local fire chief, Lieut. Rodolfo Cabrera Fontalvo.
Kilery’s mum, Julieth Salazar Reales, 32, was taken to the San Ignacio Clinic with breathing problems from smoke inhalation.
A one-month-old baby boy was saved in the fire, but was taken to hospital suffering burns and respiratory problems.
Betsaida Martinez, Antonella’s mum, told local media that the family was still waiting for forensic results to identify the remains of both girls, as they were so badly burnt.
A friend of the family, David Graterol was in the house when fire broke out, but was uninjured.
He said: “We were sleeping and I heard the girls screaming [that] they were burning.
“The flames were very high – we took the baby out as he was in another room with the parents and we went into the girls’ room, but the flames were very high.”
Neighbours rushed to help the family escape, but had difficulty gaining access, reports El Universal.
In the end, they stopped a passing taxi driver, who gave them a fire extinguisher.
But, by the time they reached the girls’ room “it was too late, the flames had consumed everything”, the paper added.
Jaime Perez, the local fire commander, said a fan in the girls’ room became stuck and the friction caused it to short-circuit, sparking flames that quickly turned into an inferno.
