Cape Town – A couple from Gauteng attending a Jimny car and camping gathering in Clarence, Free State, were reportedly found dead in their tent on Monday.
Event coordinators found the lifeless bodies of Sharon de Villiers, 50, and Carl Koen, 52, when they were removing the tents provided for overnight guests, News24 reported.
“It is further alleged that when they entered the tent, they could smell the gas inside the deceased’s tent, and both deceased were still lying on their bed.
“On top of a camp stove inside the tent, there was a teapot with water,” the report quoted Captain Loraine Earle as saying.
According to Witbank News, initially, the police incorrectly attributed their deaths to a gas leak from a stove in the tent, but it was later clarified that the burner flame of the gas stove likely didn’t go out.
Carl Koen was remembered as a loving father and co-director of a software company, as well as the president of the Mustang Musketeers Club in SA.
Sharon de Villiers, a project manager with Liberty Life, is survived by her daughter, Bianca van Eeden.
Clarens, where the event took place, experiences extremely cold nights, especially during winter.
The investigation into their deaths is ongoing.
The Jimny Festival is a popular event for compact 4X4 car owners, and this gathering aimed to break a Guinness World Record for the most cars simultaneously switching on their headlights, which they successfully achieved.
The tragic incident has left the community in mourning, and questions have arisen regarding why the couple wasn’t discovered earlier during the event.
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Picture: Facebook/Carl-Koen
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
