A second shack fire in as little as two weeks claimed the lives of three people on Saturday in the Masiphumelele informal settlement near Kommetjie.
Both parents and a child died in the weekend blaze, bringing to five the number of children who have died in shack fires in the past two weeks.
Last week another deadly fire claimed the lives of four siblings in Makhaza, Khayelitsha. Sesona, 2, Nthabiseng, 7, Masithembe, 11, and Tebego Matewu, 15, died in the blaze that engulfed their home. Only the children’s mother, Bulelwa Matewu, survived the deadly fire.
The children’s father, Maxwell Matewa, who was not home when the fire broke out, found it very difficult to utter a word.
“I’m in shock and do not have any words to explain how I feel. I have lost four of my children. I loved all of them very much,” he said.
Two of Matewa’s children were not at home during the fire.
WO November Filander, a provincial police spokesperson, said police were still unsure what caused the fire at the house.
According to the police, the latest fire in the Masiphumelele informal settlement broke out on Saturday evening. The family, who were trapped by the fire inside their shack, died.
Col André Traut said: “The cause of the fire is yet to be established.”
About three months ago another fire in the same informal settlement also took the lives of two people and left thousands of people homeless.
It was believed that particular fire was started by an electrical fault in a brick house near the shacks.
Kylie Hatton, a spokesperson for the City of Cape Town, said they had provided the displaced families with building material, blankets and food.
“We have also done a lot of educational programmes around the dangers of candles and paraffin.”
Earlier this year, a two-year-old child died in a shack fire in Paarl.
- newage
Both parents and a child died in the weekend blaze, bringing to five the number of children who have died in shack fires in the past two weeks.
Last week another deadly fire claimed the lives of four siblings in Makhaza, Khayelitsha. Sesona, 2, Nthabiseng, 7, Masithembe, 11, and Tebego Matewu, 15, died in the blaze that engulfed their home. Only the children’s mother, Bulelwa Matewu, survived the deadly fire.
The children’s father, Maxwell Matewa, who was not home when the fire broke out, found it very difficult to utter a word.
“I’m in shock and do not have any words to explain how I feel. I have lost four of my children. I loved all of them very much,” he said.
Two of Matewa’s children were not at home during the fire.
WO November Filander, a provincial police spokesperson, said police were still unsure what caused the fire at the house.
According to the police, the latest fire in the Masiphumelele informal settlement broke out on Saturday evening. The family, who were trapped by the fire inside their shack, died.
Col André Traut said: “The cause of the fire is yet to be established.”
About three months ago another fire in the same informal settlement also took the lives of two people and left thousands of people homeless.
It was believed that particular fire was started by an electrical fault in a brick house near the shacks.
Kylie Hatton, a spokesperson for the City of Cape Town, said they had provided the displaced families with building material, blankets and food.
“We have also done a lot of educational programmes around the dangers of candles and paraffin.”
Earlier this year, a two-year-old child died in a shack fire in Paarl.
- newage
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