Lwandle police have opened an inquest docket after two lives, one of them an infant, were claimed in a fatal house fire in Asanda Village.
The tragedy unfolded in the early hours of Sunday morning (13 July) when flames engulfed the home in Kula Street, leaving it destroyed and a family devastated.
One resident on whose property the burnt backyard dwelling stood describes how the disaster has left her traumatised and deeply disturbed.
Nomsa Munaki (26) relates how she and her husband were awakened by repeated desperate cries:
“The house is burning! The house is burning!”
They immediately ran outside to see the dwelling, home to a young couple and their nine-month-old baby as well as a male tenant believed to be renting a room, engulfed in flames.
“We tried to douse the flames, but our efforts sadly failed.”
Nomsa Munaki
Jermaine Carelse, spokesperson for the City of Cape Town’s Fire and Rescue Service, says firefighting crews from Strand and Sir Lowry’s Pass responded around 04:00.
“By 05:35 firefighters had managed to extinguish the blaze, which severely damaged one of the dwellings and another on the property slightly,” he says.
“Two people, an adult male and female, sustained 60% and 90% burns, and were transported to hospital by paramedics. Sadly, an adult male sustained fatal burn wounds while a minor succumbed to smoke inhalation.”
Police spokesperson Sergeant Mthokozisi Gama says the cause of the fire remains undetermined.
He identified the deceased man as a 39-year-old Zimbabwean national and confirms the infant was a baby girl.
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