Man and two children die in fire at Mamelodi transit camp

A man and two children, aged five and nine, have died in a fire at a transit camp in Mamelodi.

The Tshwane Emergency Services Department said it responded to the incident before 2am on Wednesday where multiple informal dwellings were reported to be on fire at the camp in extension 18 in Tshwane.

Blaze

Tshwane Emergency Services spokesperson Charles Mabaso said firefighters arrived on the scene to find an informal dwelling of about three rooms completely burned down.

“Members of the public reported that three people were believed to be inside the dwelling when the fire was discovered. Bodies of a male adult of unconfirmed age, a boy aged about nine and a girl of about five were discovered burned beyond recognition after the fire was doused off.”

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Precautions

Mabaso has appealed to residents to take precautions to ensure there are no accidents.

The City of Tshwane wants to appeal to residents to place candles in a safe candleholder, never overload electrical plugs, never leave an imbawula or coal fire burning overnight without supervision, and to put off or place any heating sources away from combustible materials before going to sleep.

Mabaso said the cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Generator explosion

Last week, a standby generator exploded and caught fire at the University of Pretoria’s economic and management science campus in Tshwane.

Mabaso said the explosion caused the generator to burst into flames.

“A fire engine and a ladder truck were immediately dispatched to the incident. Firefighters arrived on scene to find one of the two generators on fire and immediately began firefighting operations. The fire was subsequently extinguished. No one was injured and no structural damages to nearby buildings in Tshwane were reported,” Mabaso said.

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