A baby died when ”something like a tornado” destroyed homes and injured scores of people at Sithebe, near Qunu in the Eastern Cape, on Thursday afternoon, and a 45-year-old woman and a 16-year-old girl were killed instantly when they were struck by lightning in Butterworth on Thursday, Eastern Cape police said.
”A lot of homes were damaged and a lot of people were injured. I can confirm that a baby, aged three years, died from the incident,” Captain Sherine Reddy said.
Emergency personnel were still busy in the area, providing accommodation to affected families, late on Thursday night.
”Some were accommodated by their colleagues. It was bad,” said Reddy.
Captain Jackson Manatha said the woman who was struck by lightning in Butterworth was walking with a friend at the time of incident. The woman lived at the Centani informal settlement, but at time of her death was residing at Yako informal settlement.
In the second incident, a shack fire was caused when lightning struck a hut at Lower Mpenduza, killing a girl.
”A 16-year-old girl was killed instantly when the hut she was in was struck by lightning,” Manatha said.
Relatives managed to escape from the burning hut.
”An inquest into the deaths of both women has been conducted and no foul play is suspected,” Manatha said. — Sapa