A grandfather risked his own life by running back inside their burning home to save his four-year-old grandson.

Mohammed Hanif of Anuve in Labasa, after getting his family members to safety, realised his grandson was still in the house.

He said: “When we were all out, I found out that my four-year-old was still sleeping in the room.

“My son, daughter-in-law and three grandchildren and I were sleeping when my wife yelled out from the kitchen that there was fire.

“When I ran to open the tap, there was no drop of water. I quickly told all my family members to move out of the house.”

Neighbour

His neighbour, Naca Vulaono, had alerted the National Fire Authority (NFA) but he said they could do very little by the time they arrived at the scene.

Mr Hanif believes he would have saved their family home from being destroyed completely if water was available. During the day water was available only for at least four hours in the area.

“Water problem in our area has been ongoing for many years,” Mr Hanif said.

“If we had water our house would have been still standing.”

NFA chief fire officer Qionilau Moceitai said his officers were now carrying out an investigation.

“This is the first fire incident in the Northern Division this year,” Mr Moceitai said. Edited by Naisa Koroi