‘We’ve lost everything’
Girl, 2, dies, and fireman attacked
ATWO-year-old girl died and her parents had to be treated in hospital for severe burns after a fire ripped through the Foreman Road informal settlement in Sydenham yesterday.
Their identities are not yet known.
According to a source, the family were sleeping when they heard people screaming that there was a fire.
When they opened their door, they were surrounded by flames.
Other shacks collapsed around them and the intense heat caused them to panic.
The couple had no option but to run through the fire in the hope of getting to higher ground.
Residents in the informal settlement are still haunted by the sight of the mother carrying the child in her outstretched arms and crying.
They had thought the mother had wrapped the child in a blanket, but when they looked closer they realised it was her skin that had melted.
Residents took them to King Dinizulu Hospital, where the girl later died.
Ambulances took several other burn victims to hospital.
Yesterday morning, many of the residents were cleaning up and removing burnt and twisted metal from their homes.
The fire broke out at the bottom end of the settlement early in the morning and had spread, with the aid of the wind, up the embankment.
Police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbhele said about 70 dwellings had caught alight.
Police said the cause of the fire was unknown, but residents believe that a candle could have toppled over in one of the shacks.
Ndabankulu Mnikelo, a disaster management volunteer, said his home was also destroyed by the fire.
He said people had scrambled around to save what they could.
Mnikelo was devastated to hear of the girl’s death. He called for housing projects to be fast-tracked to avoid similar incidents.
Nomvuso Nqowana, 42, lived in one of the shacks with her daughters, Vuyelwa Godinga and Mpumi Nqowana, and granddaughter Angie, 2.
“When we heard the screams about the fire, we immediately grabbed what we could. We thought the fire would not spread to us, further up, but it did. We lost everything aside from a suitcase of clothes.
“My daughters’ certificates and our ID books are gone. We have an uncertain future, but we will rebuild the home.”
Lucia Mbali, a mother of three, had her baby strapped to her back as she removed burnt material from her small plot of land.
Mbali said her house could have been saved had the fire department arrived on time.
She would have to find more part-time jobs to buy building material, she said.
While most of the eThekwini Municipality’s emergency services have armed guards to escort them to accident and disaster scenes, the fire department does not.
Owen Singh, the divisional commander of the Durban Fire Department, said when they arrived at the scene, there was chaos.
While some firemen went down into the informal settlement to determine what action could be taken to put out the blaze, others remained at the top and began setting up fire-fighting equipment.
One fireman was attacked with a crowbar and had to be taken to hospital.
He said they left the area and only returned when the public order policing unit arrived.
Singh said that while firemen were busy at the bottom of the settlement, their hosepipes were slit.
Satish Dhupelia, a spokesman for the Gandhi Development Trust, said there were two or three “rotten apples”.
An investigation was under way to find the culprits.
“They live on our doorstep. The residents of the informal settlement were just as upset about the hosepipes being cut.
“A meeting will be convened at the informal settlement to discuss the way people should behave towards emergency vehicles,” Dhupelia said.
Police had to be called in to monitor the settlement after Durbanites, non-governmental organisations and aid agencies opened their hearts to the families who lost their possessions, by providing meals and clothing.
Ward councillor Mohamed Hassan Haniff warned of wide- spread looting.
Cars and bakkies with relief supplies were being stopped before they could get to the settlement and their goods stolen.
Haniff urged people to be careful and work through reputable aid agencies or the Foreman Road community forum.
Dhupelia arrived soon after the fire started and offered to assist those in need.
“A lady, whose child we had given uniforms and school books at the beginning of the year, stood dejectedly amid the embers of all her belongings and just said: ‘It’s all gone’.
“This is just one of the many people we have helped who have lost so much, and yet I had someone call me to ask why I was helping these folk.
“The answer really is simple. We should help anyone in need if we have the capacity to do so,” he said.
Anyone wanting to donate items can contact Dhupelia at 083 539 8202.