The fire at Rakua Street in Suva which claimed the lives.

The fire last night which claimed the lives of an elderly couple has shocked the quiet neighborhood of Tamasua Street, off Nailuva Road in Suva.

The National Fire Authority says the fire started at around 10pm.

NFA says when the firefighters arrived at the scene they found the top flat of a double-storey concrete house fully engulfed in flames.

The fire crew used two deliveries of water from the fire trucks to quickly extinguish the fire and stopped it from spreading to the bottom flat of the house.

The double-storey flat was occupied by an elderly couple and their tenants.

The tenants who were staying in the bottom flat managed to come out of the house safely however the elderly couple believed to be in their 70s perished in the fire.

Margaret Konata

One of the tenants, Margaret Konata says they were inside the house when they heard a group of boys shouting and dogs barking.

Konata says the group of boys alerted them about the fire.

“We were just peeping out and the boy said, come out, there is fire so I told her please bring the keys. When we ran out, we could see the flame coming out”.

Meanwhile, NFA says they will work with the Police to conduct its investigations to determine the cause of the fire and circumstances surrounding the fire victims