Cape Town - Four people are dead after a fire tore through a family home in Tafelsig, Mitchells Plain on Friday evening. A six-year-old girl, also a victim of the fire, is fighting for her life at the Red Cross Children’s Hospital.
The fire gutted the RDP house, on Mont Blanc Street, leaving five people homeless. Two backyard shacks, on the property, had also been razed in the inferno.
According to a survivor, Lynette Thompson, 42, the fire started when they were using a candle at one of the shacks at the back, during load shedding.
At the time of the incident there were nine people inside the premises.
“It was around 10pm when the fire started. I was just coming from the toilet outside when I noticed the blaze inside my shack. I screamed, alerting other family members.
“My sister who was inside the house did all she could to rescue my mom and her six-year-old daughter who is now at Red Cross Hospital.”
According to Thompson, her sister woke up in her room and managed to take their mother from the bedroom to the kitchen as the neighbours were trying to open the door.
In an attempt to rescue the children, she went back to the room but fainted just outside the room with their adopted sister Sabirah Moehamat, 13.
“There are four people dead. My sister Remolee Thompson 24, my daughter Cassey Thompson 11, my adopted sister Sabirah and my sister’s boyfriend Reagan, 23 whose surname I don't know.
“My daughter Cassey seemed to have inhaled too much smoke and she fainted on the other side of the bed. It was later on when we realised that she was not in sight, when my brother went to look for her... he stumbled on her feet as she lay dead on the floor,” said Lynette
Seeking help on behalf of the family, the community of Tafelsig would appreciate donations of clothes, food, appliances and building equipment.
Any donations can be dropped off at Pastor Elize Jansen at 3 Carolina street, Colorado Park, Mitchells Plain or at Dr Felicity Diederiks at 2 Washington Crescent, Colorado Park, Mitchells Plain.