Pennsylvania Explosion Kills Two Children

Jan. 14, 2008
A neighbor managed to rescue one of the children, 3-year-old Dylan Beto.

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A tricycle and gas can sit in front of a Collegeville home where two children died in what is being called a suspicious house fire.

Just before noon on Sunday, neighbors heard the explosion before they saw the fire.

A neighbor managed to rescue one of the children, 3-year-old Dylan Beto, who was standing just inside the back door of the home, police said.

His two siblings did not survive.

Firefighters found the body of Anthony Claxton, 6, inside the home. Mikayla Beto, 2, was pulled from the blaze, but died soon after at Phoenixville Hospital.

Dylan Beto was rushed to the burn unit at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children. His condition was not released.

"Oh my God, it's horrific," Eddie Beto, the victims' uncle, said. "It's rough, you lose two kids, it's a hard thing to go through."

When firefighters arrived, they found the children's mother, 22-year-old Kristy Beto, outside with minor burns.

State police arson investigators flew in a specially trained accelerant-sniffing dog from Harrisburg to search the scene. They allegedly checked out the gas can that was in front of the home.

"Best kids in the world couldn't, ask for better ones," Beto said. "Love them to death."

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