Residents helpless as woman burns to death in Pietermaritzburg
A woman who was reliant on a walking aid was tragically killed in a devastating house fire.
Neighbours who heard Pretty Zinhle JoJo’s desperate screams could not do anything to help her as flames engulfed her home.
JoJo, a resident of Wayside Place informal settlement in Regina Road, Pietermaritzburg, burnt to death on Saturday night after a blaze started at the settlement shortly after 18:00.
A local councillor and residents said it is unclear what started the fire, but it spread rapidly and was quite big.
The fire claimed one life and destroyed at least three people’s homes.
JoJo’s husband Rakesh Chotoo says he was completing an odd job in Balhambra Way when he received a call from a neighbour telling him that his house was on fire.
He says he rushed to the scene and saw the blaze being put out.
“When I arrived on the scene, I saw her body – not her face or hands, as they were burnt beyond recognition,” Chotoo says.
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