'She drew her last breath crying for help': EL tavern survivor relives ordeal

A survivor has told how a dying victim begged her to save her life as the young patrons made their way out of Enyobeni tavern, Scenery Park, East London in the early hours of Sunday morning.

“One of those who died there cried for help as I was rushing outside saying, ‘Sisi, please help me I’m dying’,” said the 24-year-old survivor.

“I could see that she was drawing her last breath. She was lying down and people were all over her. It was like a horror movie.”

The survivor said people struggled to get out of the tavern when the stampede ensued.

“People were struggling to breathe because they [tavern staff] had sprayed something,” she said.

The young woman arrived at the tavern at about 1am.

“Luckily, my friends and I managed to escape unharmed.”

Parent Nandipha Tyuthwana said she was looking for her  daughter Chulumanco Tyuthwana, 17, who went to the tavern on Saturday night after 9pm.

Chulumanco is a grade 11 pupil at Qaqamba High School.

“She asked to go to the ‘pens down’ event and I gave her permission to do so,” Tyuthwana said.

“She is the only one who is still missing because all her friend had returned home and that’s why I decided to come look for her.

“She does not have a phone. She usually uses mine but she left it last night.”

It is widely believed that the “pens down” event celebrated the end of mid-year exams.

However, provincial education spokesperson Malibongwe Mtima declined to comment.

“We are still shocked by this [incident],” Mtima said.

“As the department, we are still establishing facts so that we can see how best we can participate or intervene.”

Buffalo City community policing forum (CPF) chair Ludumo Salman slammed social media users who shared widely the graphic pictures of bodies strewn around inside  the tavern.

The incident, believed to have been a stampede, left 20 young patrons dead in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Shortly after the incident, the graphic images trended on social media.

Salman went to the scene with families from Gompo whose children had not returned from the tavern.

He said one family saw their loved ones in the pictures posted on social media.

“One of the ladies said it was her brother who was lying on the table,” he said.

“It was very wrong to circulate the pictures of people who are declared dead already.

“We appeal to anyone to stop publishing pictures of the deceased before their next of kin are notified.

“It’s a trauma to the parents ... imagine a parent who sees a picture of his dead child. It is the case today.

“It’s traumatic. I can feel for them.”

Salman  said his son had nearly become a victim of the stampede.

“My 17-year-old son asked for money and there was no clarification on how he was planning to spend it,” he said.

“But what I picked up this [Sunday] morning is that his best friends were there.  There is a possibility that two of them are there.”

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