Two boys burn to death

Two children burnt to death in Kuils River on Thursday, when the wendy house they were living in caught alight, Cape Town police said.

"Two boys, aged four and seven, were left alone in the wendy house, after their mother went to work," said Captain Isaac van Niekerk.

"The wendy house was situated in the backyard of another person's house."

He said the children did not have to go to school on Thursday and were sleeping when the incident occurred at 8am.

"The children would normally get ready for school at the main house after their mother left for work. The woman from the main house would get them ready and give them something to eat. Today they slept in, as there was no school."

He said the woman from the main house noticed the flames, and alerted the fire brigade, who arrived when it was too late.

"Wendy houses are highly flammable as they are wooden.

"So it quickly became engulfed in flames and had already burnt to the ground when the fire brigade arrived. We suspect that the children were asleep when it happened, as there was no sign of them trying to flee the house."

Van Niekerk said the fire was caused by an electrical fault.

"The house had electricity running through it, we think that a fault caused the fire. This is a very sad incident indeed and police are investigating," he said. - Sapa