Girl dies in power cut tragedy

A teenage girl died when a light switch in her King William’s Town home exploded moments after she turned it on following a power outage on Monday.

A badly injured Anele Ngcongco, 17, was hospitalised at Life Beacon Bay on Monday night with severe burn wounds to her body. She died shortly after 4am yesterday.

Her distraught father Leslie Ngcongco said the Grade 11 pupil had returned to their home in Breidbach from school on Monday afternoon and found the area and house without power.

The Daily Dispatch was yesterday unable to establish the reason for the outage as Buffalo City Metro (BCM) spokesman Thandy Matebese had not responded to questions at the time of writing.

Shortly after 3pm power to the area was restored and Anele went to the main electrical  box in the garage and turned on the main switch.

“She then went to one of the bedrooms and switched on the light which caused an explosion in the room,” Ngcongco said.

Anele was electrocuted while the room caught fire and she suffered further burns.

He said no one was home at the time.

“Every time there is power outages we trip the main switch to protect our home appliances and switch back on when power is restored,” said the father.

Neighbours who heard the explosion rushed to the scene to investigate.

Amelia Smith, 73, said she was the first one to arrive.

“I found Anele outside the house. She was naked under a running tap trying to cool herself from the burns. She told me the light switch exploded as she was trying to put it on, she did not speak anymore,” Smith said.

As throngs of neighbours gathered around the burning three bedroom house they used a hose pipe to fight the fire.

The  BCM  fire brigade was called and managed to douse the flames soon after arriving on the scene.

Anele was rushed to Grey Hospital  in  King William’s Townl and later transferred to Life Beacon Bay in East London.

“We got to Beacon Bay just after 8pm. The doctor told me that my daughter had 95% burns and that anything could happen,” her father said.

Ngcongco received a call yesterday morning telling him that Anele had passed away.

“She was quite an asset in the house, she assisted her mother with cooking and cleaning and really loved her school books,” said Ngcongco.

The metro’s fire safety inspectors yesterday visited the scene and spent time photographing the house.

One inspector was heard telling the father: “There is a lot of smoke damage and there is nothing wrong with the wiring.

“The cause of fire at this point is unknown, only our forensic team will determined what caused the fire.”

King William’s Town police spokeswoman Lieutenant Siphokazi Mawisa said an inquest docket had been opened.

Anele was a pupil at Breidbach Secondary School. Head of department for history Benjamin Mentoor said five teachers and a handful of pupils had visited her home yesterday morning.

“We paid our respects and offered messages of support to the family. Her father is a friend and fellow church member. What has happened is terrible,” Mentoor said.

He described Anele as “a bright girl”.

East London electrical technician Allen Dengler of Alldens Electrical said it was wise for homeowners to trip the main switch during power outages.

“Sometimes the surge damages valuable electrical items when power is restored. People should exercise caution when switching the back on by first seeing that there is nothing wrong with the wiring.”