There was a sombre atmosphere at Breadnut Hill Primary in St Ann on Monday morning as the school community mourned the death of grade two student Tashana Mattis in a house fire in Walkerswood in the parish on Sunday.

The seven-year-old along with two of her younger siblings – four-year-old Tashawnie Mattis and two-year-old Tavano Mattis – perished in the blaze.

Breadnut Hill Primary School Principal Sherron Minott told the Jamaica Observer that Tashana’s classmates were deeply saddened by the tragedy and said the students expressed concern about the spate of fires affecting children across Jamaica.

“A lot of them are now scared because there is so much uncertainty, they are wondering if this would happen to them,” Minott said.

The Walkersood tragedy brought to four the number of children killed in house fires since the start of the year. Last week another child, five years old, died in a blaze at her home on Whitehall Avenue in St Andrew.

In the meantime, Minott remembered Tashana as “very quiet, calm (and) unassuming”.

She added that there is an ongoing support system for students who are grieving.

-Ackera Davis