Min­is­ter of So­cial De­vel­op­ment and Fam­i­ly Ser­vices Don­na Cox has called on cit­i­zens to pray for the Burke fam­i­ly.

She said she in­tend­ed to vis­it them to­day, af­ter three of their chil­dren died in a house fire at Rook­ery Nook, Mar­aval on Mon­day. But the Min­is­ter said when she spoke to a rel­a­tive she was told that the fa­ther, Troy Burke, was not ready for vis­i­tors.

“We planned to go there af­ter but when we called I think the fa­ther is still re­al­ly trau­ma­tised,” Cox said.

Cox made the com­ment as she vis­it­ed the scene of a col­lapsed house in Fac­to­ry Road Diego Mar­tin.

“I know that this is time that the fam­i­ly is grief-strick­en and we will ad­here to their wish­es at this time,” she said

But she did send her con­do­lences to the fam­i­ly of Ezekiel Burke, 17, Faith Burke, six, and Kay­den Burke, three, who per­ished in the blaze.

She said the Min­istry’s Fam­i­ly Ser­vices Di­vi­sion has been call­ing al­most every hour to check in on the fam­i­ly and asked cit­i­zens to pray for them.

“This is not an easy sit­u­a­tion,” she ex­pressed.