Three siblings aged between 2 and 9 years old and their adult neighbour perished in a shack fire that engulfed several shacks in Marathon squatter camp in Germiston, Ekurhuleni.
The deadly fire happened on Sunday, 1 May just before midnight.
The mother of the three children is said to have escaped the blaze with minor injuries.
According to Ekurhuleni Disaster and Emergency Management Services spokesman William Ntladi, the deceased were apparently trapped in their shacks and they couldn’t make it out. They were burnt beyond recognition.
Ntladi said in a statement: “The children aged 9, 7, and 2 years including a female adult aged 43, all burned beyond recognition on Sunday night in what is one of the gruesome fire incidents this winter.”
He said City of Ekurhuleni firefighters received the call exactly at 23.13 pm on Sunday evening and responded promptly for intervention.
Primrose, Bedfordview and Albertina Sisulu fire stations were in attendance with three fire engines.
“On arrival, multiple number of shacks were already destroyed by flames spreading to others.
Offensive direct fire suppression was initiated to prevent further spread. On investigation after flames were extinguished following the information of entrapment from bystanders, three siblings from one shack and an adult from another unfortunately, couldn’t escape the blaze,” said Ntladi.
He said all four were declared deceased on the scene by paramedics. The children’s mother escaped with minor burn wounds.
As per information on the scene, the cause of the fire is suspected to be a paraffin stove left unattended in one of the burned shack.
An inquest docket was opened with the police.
-daily sun
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