Mother and baby died inside room

On a very cold evening, the lifeless bodies of a mother and her infant were discovered inside their bedroom.

Monday, June 4 was a very cold day in eMalahleni, everyone was using different types of heaters to keep as any form of heat was better than nothing, except one form of heat was used, resulting in the death.

Ms Marie Ilunga lying dead on the pavement on Monday, June 4.

Emeraud Ilunga lifeless hand placed on top of the blanket.

Mr Paul Ilunga (28) left his wife Ms Marie Ilunga (18) and their two month old baby girl Emeraud Ilunga in the flat at Presidents Place as he went to work for the day.

During the day Ilunga was busy doing deliveries and he could not wait to return home to spend time with his wife and daughter like he did every evening after a long days’ work.

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According to the other residents inside the building they had not seen or heard anything from the flat from about 17:00 that afternoon.
But what they did not know what had happened behind close doors, Marie had started a coal fire on a braai, she had closed all the windows and the doors to keep warm.

Mother and baby were on the bed under blankets to keep warm.

The braai and the coal that was used to warm up the bedroom, causing the death of the mother and baby.

Later that evening, Ilunga arrived home from work, when he went into the flat there was silence, this was very strange for him.
He tried to open up the bedroom door but it was locked, he stood there shouting for Marie to open up the door.

The bedroom where the bodies of Ms Marie Ilunga and her baby Emeraud Ilunga were found on Monday, June 4.

Not knowing what was going on behind the door, Ilunga started stressing and he frantically started kicking the door handle off.
Meanwhile someone else in the flats had phoned emergency services for help and Ilunga’s brother, Mr Patrick Mukandila.

As Mukandila arrived at the flat, Ilunga had just managed to get the door open. When they entered the room, they found Marie and Emeraud on the bed.

Emeraud Ilunga (two months old).

Ms Marie Ilunga (18).

Mukandila picked Marie up and ran down the stairs with her in his arms.

“I wanted to place her inside my car and rush her to the hospital, but by the time I wanted to do this the ambulance had just arrived,” said a very emotional Mukandila.

Another friend carried Emeraud to the ambulance; the paramedics did Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) on both the mother and the infant.

Unfortunately due to the inhalation of the smoke that the coal fire released, they were declared dead on scene.
Marie and Emeraud died due to Carbon Monoxide Poisoning.

Emeraud was born on April 3, at the time of her death she was dressed in white clothing, just like an angel.

The door handle that was kicked off to gain access into the bedroom.

“Marie was a wonderful person, my brother loved her a lot and Emeraud brought so much joy into our lives,” said Mukandila.

Ilunga and Mukandila are still busy arranging the funeral.

“We are all from the DRC and it will cost too much to have the funeral there so we are planning a local funeral,” said Mukandila.