[VIDEO] Elderly, blind man dies in house fire
His 13-year-old grandson tried to pull him from the fire.
80-year-old Peter Hendrieks burnt to death after half of his home caught fire and his 13-year-old grandson could not get him out fast enough.
It was difficult, bystanders said, because Hendrieks was blind.
Agnes Makgoba, mother of the boy and Hendriek’s daughter, told the News that her son was extremely traumatised and had to be taken away by the police for counselling.
The fire seemed to have started at around 9am this morning (18 November) at 367 Mejoane Lane, bystanders told the News.
“You could hear his screams. It sounded like a hysterical child,” one neighbour recalled.
The community, especially family members, came to remove the crisped rubble from Agnes’ home. She had just buried her husband last week when she was told her father had burnt to death.
The cause of the fire is still unknown, but Mogale City’s Fire Department along with Fire Risk Management officers are in the process of investigating it.
Christina Masike was one of the community members that helped remove the rubble and said her house had also burnt down last year, but the municipality failed to help her.
Agnes, tears streaming down her face, fears that she will also not be helped.
“I need to rebuild my house, but I have nothing to build it with,” she said.
For more photos of what the house looked like afterward, click here.
Also read:
• 6 000 hectares destroyed in devastating fire
• Pre-winter fire awareness education
• No response from Fire Department
