Tragedy struck a family after their four-year-old twins died in a fire incident in Kasarani area, Nairobi.

The mother of the boy and girl had left them in the house and went out shopping when she was informed the house was on fire.

Because she was far from the house, she called neighbours and asked them to help.

The woman aged 26 had apparently left the children with a burning candle before leaving the house.

The children fell asleep leaving the candle which was next to their bed burning.

Nairobi police boss Adamson Bungei said they suspect the candle fell on the bed and caused the fire before it spread out fast.

The fire gutted the household valuables also killing the two minors. Residents said they saw smoke billowing from the house long after it had consumed most of the valuables therein at about 11 pm on Thursday, December 15.

They raised an alarm and managed to put off the fire but the two children were already dead.

Police visited the scene and helped to move the bodies to the mortuary.

A postmortem will be done on the bodies as part of the probe into the deaths.

Police want to establish how they died.