FREEZER OF DEATH
Horrific end for five little boys
FIVE young children, all cousins, suffocated to death in an unused chest freezer in Kakamas in the Northern Cape. Their bodies were discovered late on Tuesday.
Their deaths have left the community in shock.
Kakamas police have opened an inquest into the deaths of the children, all between the ages of three and seven, who were trapped inside the freezer while playing in the backyard of their grandmother’s house.
Relatives at the scene referred reporters to the police following negative comments posted on social network sites, including accusations of neglect.
However, the parents of four of the five cousins, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Star’s sister newspaper, the DFA, that the deaths of their children was nothing more than a tragic accident that could have happened to anyone.
“We left the children to play with their cousins on Tuesday afternoon, as we regularly did,” the father of two of the children, aged seven and three, said. “When I got the call to come home, I left work immediately to find out what had happened.
“As I opened the freezer, the oldest child was at the top. As the strongest, he probably tried to get the door open… but was not able to do so.
“I did what I could. I tried to revive them but it was already too late.”
Jacques Louw, who lives a few houses away from the scene of the tragedy, said he was alerted to the incident when he heard a “blood-curdling” scream.
“I knew something terrible had happened and went to investigate. When I saw the children, I was shocked and rushed them to hospital. I will never forget this horrible experience.
“We would often see them happily playing in the neighbourhood. The entire community is in mourning… in many ways, these children were like our own.”
Moon Isaacs looked on from her yard across the street while the bereaved family prayed together yesterday afternoon.
“I’m new to this area so I did not know the children that well. This is a closely-knit community where children are still safe to play in the street.
“There is always someone keeping an eye on them. Children know their neighbours and visit each others’ homes.
Major Dimakatso Mooi said the deaths are being investigated.