SAD: 3-year-old Western Cape boy perishes in shack fire
Residents from Isiqalo near Mitchel’s Plain in Western Cape are left shocked after a three-year-old boy burnt to death in a shack fire on Friday morning.
The mother of the deceased Bulelwa Mili(31) said she left his son Alunamda Mili (3) with a relative after she left home around 4 am to West Gate mall to collect some clothes.
She received the shock of her life when she returned home around 9 am only to discover that was razed to ashes.
Residents were gathered at the scene together with cops.
“When I saw people gathered at my house, all I thought of was my son.
“My fears were confirmed when someone told me that my son had died in the fire. I was devastated, my heart is bleeding,” she said.
Bulelwa said she left his son with a relative who also left the house an hour later.
Apparently, the relative forgot a lit candle in the house which then led to the fire.
The fire started around 7 am about two hours after this relative had long gone.
Bulelwa said her child died a painful death and she believes that he tried to leave the house but couldn’t do so because the door was locked.
“He died close to the door but I left him sleeping on the bed, he may have tried to walk out but couldn’t do so because the door was locked,” she said.
Community leader Ndimphiwe Diza(56) said they tried to extinguish the fire but it was too late.
“Our existing water crisis worsened the situation, we tried but we did not manage to save the child,” he said.
Cape Town Fire and Rescue spokesman Jermaine Carelse confirmed the incident.
“A young boy died at the Siqalo informal settlement in a fire which the City’s Fire and Rescue Service was alerted to at 8:16 am.
“Crews from Mitchells Plain, Gugulethu, and Ottery were dispatched to the settlement, just off Jakes Gerwel Drive and were able to quickly contain and extinguish the blaze by 9:38.
Carelse said the firefighters discovered the body of the boy in one of the structures.
“In total two informal structures and a vehicle were severely damaged,” Carelse added.
Cops spokesman Captain Frederick Van Wyk confirmed the incident and said an inquest case has been opened for investigation.
-daily sun
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