KIDS HURT AFTER VELD EXPLOSION
Cops checking on device
A GROUP of young girls from Sinqobile, west of Johannesburg, were playing in an open veld not far from their homes last Friday when there was an explosion that left one of them fighting for her life.
Ellen Kenosi said she had just finished taking a bath at around 6.30pm when she suddenly heard an explosion. “It sounded like a bomb or a gun shot,” she said.
When she went outside to investigate, she was met with a horrific picture of her daughter Kefilwe Kenosi covered in blood.
“I lifted her but she suddenly became unconscious,” Kenosi said.
Blood was flowing from her temples, she was vomiting and had blisters all over her body, said the mother.
She called for help and an ambulance took Kefilwe, 11, to Leratong Hospital.
After the explosion, a hole was left in the veld where Kefilwe and her friends usually play.
Kefilwe regained her speech on Sunday, but Kenosi said she could still not make out what her daughter was trying to say.
“I can’t eat. I am so distraught and I am thinking of the worst that could have happened to my child. She could have died,” Kenosi said.
Kefilwe has not been eating since she was admitted to hospital on Friday.
Johanne Dichake, who lives next door to Kenosi, said she was sitting at home when she heard the explosion and her house shook.
Her five-year-old niece, Reatlegile Dichake, who was among the girls playing in the veld, came into the house with her clothes drenched in blood. Blood was oozing from her left temple, her right hand was swollen and she had blisters all over her body. She was also admitted to Leratong Hospital on Friday and discharged the next morning.
The little girl was walking with difficulty when Sowetan visited the family on Monday. Her left leg was bandaged, she could not move her right hand and she had bruises on her face.
“She is in so much pain and she is always sleeping,” said Dichake.
Kagiso police spokesman Solomon Sibiya confirmed that there had been an explosion.
He said other children who were also playing in the veld, that is also used as a dumping site, picked up something that looked like a bottle and played with it. When they threw it away, it exploded.
The police went to the veld to collect samples and would investigate what kind of an explosive it was, said Sibiya.
Reatlegile Dichake