TRAGIC: Two children burnt to death in shack fire
It has been a rough few days for a family from Munsieville. On Saturday their shack burned down and they lost their two youngest boys. They also lost all their possessions in the fire and were even taken in for questioning by the police.
A family from Munsieville’s lives changed forever when the shack they were living in caught fire on Saturday evening.
Derrick Mofokeng and Erika Mogus lived with their three children in the Pango camp in Munsieville, and although life wasn’t always easy, they say they loved their children very much.
Their two youngest boys, Cadean, aged three months and Casedeyn, aged fifteen months, burned to death after a fire started and engulfed the whole home.
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https://www.citizen.co.za/krugersdorp-news/365128/infant-and-toddler-die-in-shack-fire/
The police sent out a statement on Monday, saying that the Krugersdorp Police were investigating the death of two infants after the shack they were living in had caught fire and the two boys burned to death.
The police report stated that the parents were not home the night of the fire and that the two children was left alone.
But Erica and Derrick want to set the record straight. After being taken in for questioning by the police on Sunday, they are back home again, but life will never be the same for any of them ever again.
Photo: Jaco Human.
Erica said that on Saturday evening she bathed the children and put them all to bed. The two youngest boys were sleeping in the back of the shack and their oldest, Miguel, now six years old, was sleeping in the front.
Erica went to lie down with the two boys and fell asleep. She said Cadean’s crying woke her up just after 10pm. She gave him a bottle, held him and they went back to sleep.
When Erica woke up again it was with the smell of smoke in her nose. She explained that she does not know how the fire started, but thinks a candle could have had something to do with it. She said she had washed the children’s clothes earlier that day.
Photo: Supplied.
“I had folded the clothes neatly and decided to put them away the next day,” she said.
It was these clothes that caught fire and Erica explained that she called for Miguel to get a bucket of water. He came running back with the bucket and she threw it on the fire but it was not enough. When she went to use a second bucket of water, the fire was already out of control and was nearing the roof.
She said that by that time she could not get to her babies so she grabbed Miguel and ran outside. She started screaming for help and her neighbours came running.
“My husband pulled one of the sheets of corrugated iron on the side of the shack off, the one closest to the children, but the fire was too big, and we could not reach them,” explained Nicky van Niekerk, a neighbour.
Derrick explained through his tears that he was out collecting plastic and tin to recycle, so he could make money for the family.
“I feel like a failure, I should have saved them, but I couldn’t,” said a visibly distraught Erica.
According to Nicky, the whole place burned down in under eight minutes and the family lost everything.
Photo: Jaco Human.
After being taken in by the police, Miguel was put in a place of safety and Erica and Derrick are living with friends.
On Facebook, the community has been pulling together to help the parents with clothes, food and anything else they could need. One person has also offered to bury the two boys for the family, but this can only take place after the investigation is complete.
Nicky said that the residents of the camp have a new project – they want to get a piece of land they can all move to, where they will be provided with water and electricity. She explained that for some reason there was no water in the camp on Saturday night, and they could not fight the fire.
This project will be implemented in September.
“We want to move Erica and Derrick first so that they can set up a nice house and Miguel can come back home,” she explained.
