Cape Town – Six bodies, including a father and his toddler, were discovered in a charred state behind the front door of a shack in Missionvale, Gqeberha on Sunday.
The family, consisting of parents and four children, tragically perished in an early Sunday morning fire, with their identities and ages still to be confirmed due to the extent of their burns, News24 quoted police spokesperson, Colonel Priscilla Naidu as saying.
While the exact cause of the fire has not been determined, suspicions point to a potential illegal electricity connection.
The fire department will conduct further investigations to establish the precise cause.
Witnesses recalled the father’s heroic attempt to save his child during the blaze.
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“It was the worst thing I have ever seen. They found the father holding his youngest in his arms. They were behind the door, and it seemed like they had almost escaped. His first instinct was to save his child,” said a family friend.
In a separate incident that also occurred last week in the Eastern Cape, a mother and her three children lost their lives in a house fire in Ndevana, leading to the opening of inquest dockets for investigations in both cases.
In this incident, “a mother, 40 and her three children died during the early hours of Friday morning, 15/09 when their home burned down in Tshabo in Ndevana.
“The children aged 3-10 years old (2 girls and a boy) also died in the blaze. Neighbours tried to in vain to extinguish the fire, but it was too intense. Names will be released once the next of kin have been informed”, Naidu said.
The communities affected were deeply traumatised by these tragic events, leaving them with a profound sense of loss.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
