The screams of two children trapped inside their burning home will forever haunt Fumanekile Nqase.
Nqase was at home with his girlfriend and her brother when he smelled smoke just after 7pm on Monday.
The two men ran for where the smell was coming from and discovered a neighbouring shack – that of a relative – on fire.
The incident happened in Velwano informal settlement in NU1, Mdantsane.
They heard Buyiswa Mjaleni, 70, scream for help. “We just saw flames and smoke and heard their grandmother screaming, ‘save us, my children, save my children’.
“But she was the only one we managed to save because she was closest to the door. It was too late to save the kids,” Nqase told the Daily Dispatch yesterday.
Avuzwa Mjaleni, 5, and his sister Avethandwa, 3, died in the blaze.
Nqase, whose girlfriend is related to the fire victims, said he will never forget the screams. “The children were like my own because the family was very close to me.”
Family who spoke to the Dispatch yesterday said the elderly Mjaleni had been cooking supper on an electric two-plate stove, but had fallen asleep. They believe that is how the fire started.
The grandmother was rushed to Cecilia Makiwane Hospital in Mdantsane. By the time the fire department arrived, residents had extinguished the blaze. Two nearby shacks were also affected.
When the Dispatch arrived at the informal settlement yesterday, residents were gathered around the scene. The shack was reduced to rubble.
Nqase, who spent the night sleeping in a car because their shack was also damaged by the fire, said: “We did not sleep a wink, trying to think of what we could’ve done to save the children. Their screams and the crackling sound of the fire eating away at them keeps reverberating in our heads.”
Distraught mother Chuma Mjaleni said she had been in Potsdam for the weekend when she was told to hurry home.
“I received a phone call that I should rush home because there was something urgent that needed my attention. I never guessed that the urgency was that two of my children were no more.”
The weeping mother said her eldest son, Sihlangule Mjaleni, 10, was at a friend for the weekend “or he would be dead too. I last saw my children playing happily on Saturday morning and now I will never see them again.”
Police spokesman Captain Mluleki Mbi said an inquest docket had been opened.
BCM spokesman Thandy Matebese said the fire department received a call from the police and this inevitably led to delays in their response.
“The call was received at 7.11pm and the bodies were discovered at 7.33pm. On arrival the shack was well alight and had already collapsed and the community was trying to extinguish the fire using buckets.
“The firefighters summoned an ambulance for the granny, who suffered from smoke inhalation and minor burns. No mention was made of any persons still inside the shack. The bodies were discovered during damping down operations.”
‘Save us, save my children’
Nqase was at home with his girlfriend and her brother when he smelled smoke just after 7pm on Monday.
The two men ran for where the smell was coming from and discovered a neighbouring shack – that of a relative – on fire.
The incident happened in Velwano informal settlement in NU1, Mdantsane.
They heard Buyiswa Mjaleni, 70, scream for help. “We just saw flames and smoke and heard their grandmother screaming, ‘save us, my children, save my children’.
“But she was the only one we managed to save because she was closest to the door. It was too late to save the kids,” Nqase told the Daily Dispatch yesterday.
Avuzwa Mjaleni, 5, and his sister Avethandwa, 3, died in the blaze.
Nqase, whose girlfriend is related to the fire victims, said he will never forget the screams. “The children were like my own because the family was very close to me.”
Family who spoke to the Dispatch yesterday said the elderly Mjaleni had been cooking supper on an electric two-plate stove, but had fallen asleep. They believe that is how the fire started.
The grandmother was rushed to Cecilia Makiwane Hospital in Mdantsane. By the time the fire department arrived, residents had extinguished the blaze. Two nearby shacks were also affected.
When the Dispatch arrived at the informal settlement yesterday, residents were gathered around the scene. The shack was reduced to rubble.
Nqase, who spent the night sleeping in a car because their shack was also damaged by the fire, said: “We did not sleep a wink, trying to think of what we could’ve done to save the children. Their screams and the crackling sound of the fire eating away at them keeps reverberating in our heads.”
Distraught mother Chuma Mjaleni said she had been in Potsdam for the weekend when she was told to hurry home.
“I received a phone call that I should rush home because there was something urgent that needed my attention. I never guessed that the urgency was that two of my children were no more.”
The weeping mother said her eldest son, Sihlangule Mjaleni, 10, was at a friend for the weekend “or he would be dead too. I last saw my children playing happily on Saturday morning and now I will never see them again.”
Police spokesman Captain Mluleki Mbi said an inquest docket had been opened.
BCM spokesman Thandy Matebese said the fire department received a call from the police and this inevitably led to delays in their response.
“The call was received at 7.11pm and the bodies were discovered at 7.33pm. On arrival the shack was well alight and had already collapsed and the community was trying to extinguish the fire using buckets.
“The firefighters summoned an ambulance for the granny, who suffered from smoke inhalation and minor burns. No mention was made of any persons still inside the shack. The bodies were discovered during damping down operations.”
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