Family home petrol-bombed

AN ELDERLY couple whose house was hit by two home-made petrol bombs in the early hours of yesterday, believe the attackers wanted to trap the family in their Reservoir Hills, Durban, home and kill them.

Ram Moothilal, 73, said both the front and back doors – the only exits out of the house – were set alight by petrol bombs just after midnight.

He said if he wasn’t woken up by the noise of a slamming window, his ill wife, four grandchildren and son would have died in their home.

“I woke up to close the window, but when I looked down the passage I saw a lot of smoke and knew something was on fire.

“I woke my wife and she went to investigate,” he said.

Moothilal’s wife Sabitha said the front door was engulfed in flames.

“I started screaming and my grandsons rushed to see what was going on. They all threw water on the door, but by then I was already choking from the smoke,” she said.

Sabitha, a cancer patient who receives chemotherapy, battled to catch her breath.

While the grandchildren tried to put out the fire at the front door, they noticed the back door was on fire.

“My tenants rushed upstairs and grabbed sand with their hands to douse the fire. We were trapped for almost an hour before the fires were put out,” she said.

The family said they were concerned for their safety as police were still searching for those behind the attack.

Police spokesperson LieutenantColonel Thulani Zwane said a case of malicious damage to property was opened at Sydenham police station for investigation.