There are bitter tears that Andrea P. * (45) sheds: She cries for her nieces Alina ** († 13) and Sophie ** († 11), who died on Monday night in the fire drama in Leuzigen BE Life came.
She sits on a bench at the edge of the forest not far from her home in the canton of Bern and looks at photos from two weeks ago – the world was still all right then. «We were still hiking together. The whole family was here with us in the region on vacation ”, she says in a brittle voice in a conversation with a look and wipes the tears from her cheek. «And suddenly everything is different. I still can’t believe what happened. It’s terrible. “
«I just took my breath away»
The single mother of twins in her teenage years does not yet know exactly how the tragedy came about. According to the Bern canton police, investigations into the cause of the fire are still ongoing. “A friend contacted me that morning around eleven o’clock. She sent me the link to a newspaper report and asked me if it wasn’t my sister’s house where there was a fire, ”Andrea P. reports from the moment she heard about the deadly inferno. “I immediately took my breath away.”
You recognized the family home immediately. “At first I was hoping that it wasn’t true and that it was just a similar house. But unfortunately there aren’t many families with four children either, and the address was also right, ”says the childcare worker sadly. She then sat motionless at the kitchen table and tried to somehow digest the news.
The four survivors are in good health
“Afterwards I tried to contact my sister. But she probably couldn’t take her cell phone with her, »she continues. “I finally got the eldest daughter on the phone. But she couldn’t really tell me what happened. The shock was still too great. “
The four survivors are in good health and have been allowed to leave the hospital in the meantime, but their niece told her. “You are now temporarily housed somewhere and are looked after by a care team,” continues Andrea P.
“You had so much joie de vivre”
She struggles with the emotions. Her thoughts are with Alina and Sophie, whose young life ended so unexpectedly. “They were very positive girls. So lovely and so happy, they had so much joie de vivre », she says and takes a deep breath. “I just hope that they didn’t notice anything from the smoke and that they didn’t have to suffer.”
The dog is dead too
The parents had their bedroom upstairs, so the relatives. “As far as I know, the youngest one slept in bed with them, so they could probably take him with them and save him that way.” The eldest, in turn, had her room on the ground floor and was thus able to escape directly into the open. “I think seconds made the difference between life and death.”
The young Bergamasque dog in the family unfortunately left her life in the flames, the 45-year-old continues. “I don’t know how she will ever cope with all of this.”
Grandparents cannot be reached
Andrea P. is currently trying to contact Sophie and Alina’s grandparents. “You are on vacation and probably don’t know anything about it yet,” she says desperately.
She tries to be there for her family in Leuzigen and to support them wherever she can. In tears she says: “It just hurts so much!”