Daily News: Eight die in Cato Crest shack fires

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Eight die in Cato Crest shack fires
People watch girl (9) die

August 04, 2008 Edition 1

MPUME MADLALA

SHACK dwellers in Cato Crest watched helplessly as a nine-year-old girl burned to death after her home caught fire in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The young girl was one of eight people killed in two separate fires there on the same day.

Three adults, including a pregnant woman and four children, aged seven months, two, the nine-year-old and a 14-year-old, died when their shack was gutted.

A tearful Mamwele Notyesi, who witnessed the incident, said she would forever be haunted by the girl’s cries for help.

“The voices just won’t go away. My house has burned down, but the pain does not compare with the tragedy I saw happen right in front of my eyes. The worst was when the nine-year-old stood in front of the burglar gates, holding on while people tried to help her.

“She waited, hoping, while she burned, that she would be set free, but instead the burglar guard fell on her and it was over. I don’t know how I will get over this trauma,” she said.

Themba Ngcobo, 45, who managed to escape the flames, said he was awoken by huge flames.

“My room was suddenly so hot and bright that the only thing I thought of was the door. Only after I had escaped did I realise that my shack was on fire and only then did I start to hear the cries of others whose homes were burning.

“I thank God that he saved my life … I almost died,” he said.

In a separate incident, a man died of burn wounds after his shack in Area Four caught alight.

Thirty-nine families have reportedly lost their homes as a result of the fires. It is believed both fires were caused by candles which had fallen over. The community yesterday was still traumatised by the incidents.

Mzi Ngiba, chairman of the area ward committee, said: “I went to attend to the fire in Area Four where a man was burning.

“We managed to get him out of the flames and took him to hospital. He died today from his burns.

“This is a tragedy for all of us. We don’t know what to say or think because there are no words to describe the pain that these people endured.”

John Mchunu of social welfare and population development said: “The municipality will provide these families with material to rebuild their homes … we have handed out mattresses and have called on the Red Cross to provide meals.”