Johannesburg | Tuesday
A TWO-year-old child died in an inner city shack fire in Johannesburg on Monday night.
City emergency services representative Malcolm Midgely said the little girl was left unattended by her parents.
”At about 8.30pm a candle fell over and the place went up in flames,” Midgely said.
The shack in which the child was sleeping had been built between two buildings in Eloff Street Extension, near Wemmer and Jubilee Streets.
”This shack housed 16 people. When it caught fire, people managed to get most of their belongings out. Unfortunately nobody realised the child was still sleeping inside. Her parents weren’t there and she got left behind,” Midgely said.
The rafters of an adjacent building were already on fire when the first fire engine arrived on the scene, but firemen managed to extinguish the blaze before it could spread any further.
Asked if the homeless affected by the fire would be housed by city officials, Midgely said most of them had ”melted into the night” before emergency accommodation could be arranged. – Sapa