‘’Inconsolable’’ was the only word that the eldest daughter of the family that was killed in a fire in Kleinvlei, Blue Downs, could use to describe her pain.
Ivana Cloete said words could not describe her feelings after five of her family members, including her parents, were killed in a fire during the early hours of Wednesday.
“I lost everything. I lost my parents and siblings. I am very distraught,” she said.
According to the City’s Fire and Rescue Service, crews were alerted to the blaze at about 1am in Belladonna Street.
Spokesperson Jermaine Carelse said crews from Mfuleni, Kuils River, Strand and Belhar were dispatched to the scene, where the first arriving officer found formal and informal dwellings alight.
“Just after 2.10am, firefighters managed to extinguish the blaze that partially damaged the formal dwelling and destroyed three informal structures. The bodies of three adults, two males and one female, and two minors were found with fatal burn wounds and declared dead on scene,” he said.
Carelse said three others –one adult and two minors – were transported to a nearby hospital for smoke inhalation and burn wounds. Meno Enrico Makielie has been hailed as a hero for saving the two children.
Carelse said the cause of the fire was unknown and the scene was handed over to the police.
Kleinvlei Community Police Forum chairperson Hubert Kemp said the residents were aggrieved and in shock. “It is traumatic. The whole community is in mourning.
You can just feel it in the atmosphere that it’s really bad. We are still in shock,” he said. “Speculation is that it was during load shedding and they slept with a candle on. We are now just trying to see what we as the community can do to assist the family.”
Police spokesperson FC van Wyk said Kleinvlei police had registered an inquest. “According to reports, SAPS members on duty received a complaint of a fire and on their arrival found the house on fire. When the fire was extinguished, five people (were) found burnt beyond recognition,” he said.
Cape Times