Two children die in shack fire

Ivory Park police spokesperson Warrant Officer Neldah Sekgobela said two brothers aged four years and four months died in Ivory Park extension 7. A family of Mozambique nationals, an elderly woman who is the owner of the yard, her 38-year-old son and his 36-year-old girlfriend were asleep when the fire started.

Sekgobela said, “It is alleged that the older woman, her son and the son’s girlfriend had been drinking the night before the incident. The family has no electricity and use candles for lighting.”

At 10pm there was an argument between the son and his girlfriend, but the neighbours allegedly reconciled them and they went to sleep in the shack. At 3am neighbours noticed that the shack had caught fire and tried to extinguish it. They called the fire brigade, but when firefighters arrived the two boys were already dead.

The son’s girlfriend and the elderly woman sustained serious burns and were taken to Tembisa Hospital for treatment. The father of the deceased children was treated for minor burns, and another two children sustained minor injuries.

It is not known if a candle was the source of the fire. Ivory Park police are investigating the cause of the fire.

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