A 17-year-old mother is now in police custody following the death of her children on Friday night. Her two infants, 18-month-old Retania Powell and five month-old Shanique Brown were burnt to death, after their one-room board house on Spanish Town Road, in Kingston was gutted by fire. The teenage mother was not yet charged up to news time.

Reports from the police are that about 7:45 p.m., both infants were left at homeby their mother who went to a nearby shop. On her return, the house was seen engulfed in flames.

Police say the cause of the fire may have been a lit candle that overturned and ignited a gas cylinder in the house, as an explosion was heard shortly before the fire.

Building not insured

The fire brigade was summoned and two units, one from Trench Town and another from the York Park fire departments extinguished the blaze.

The infants' bodies were later found in the burnt-out building. The building was not insured and the extent of the loss has not been estimated.

Children's Advocate Mary Clarke described the incident as very unfortunate, but believes this incident is an indication of the nation's attitude towards children. "We have been having children dying from intentional and unintentional injuries ... and it shows our attitude towards our children: Where has the love gone.?"

Deterrent

Mrs. Clarke believes that if more parents were being held accountable for the non-supervision of their children, then it would act as a deterrent to incidents of these kinds.

"Parents and caregivers must be held accountable, when incidents such as these occur," she says. "When we start holding some accountable then we will see change. We need to apply sanctions within the law."

Mrs. Clarke has also recommended the review of certain support systems in the community to ensure that children are always supervised.

Three children have now perished in fires since the start of the year. Fifteen children perished by fire last year.