Family of five, including three children perish in a fire

Five family members died in a house at Marikana Geluksoord in the early hours of Sunday, 17 July 2022. Christiana police have opened an inquest docket.

At around 3:30 in the morning, a man is said to have seen smoke from a neighbour’s house as he left his home.

All of the doors and windows were closed when he arrived at the residence in a hurry. The man hurried back to his home and got an iron rod. He returned to the house and smashed and opened all the doors and windows while informing others of the incident.

He and other neighbours entered the house after the smoke had died down and found that the ceiling and a few domestic items had burnt.

In the sitting room, they found the bodies of two children, ages 8 and 15. The bodies of the couple, who were aged 38 and 48, were discovered in the main bedroom, while the body of a three-year-old boy was discovered in the other room. Emergency Medical and Rescue Services (EMRS) medics pronounced all the victims dead at the site.

At this point, there is no suspicion of any foul play and the cause of the fire is unknown. The situation is still being looked into.

Even though it was regrettably too late for the family. We salute the neighbours for their heroic attempt to save the lives of the people in the house.

It is very troubling that it appears that no one inside the house attempted to escape the fire. They appear to have all remained in the same places as they had been before the fire started. Even when no foul play is believed to have happened. A detailed investigation into the fire is required.

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