Two children died of smoke inhalation after their mother fell asleep leaving a stove on, Eastern Cape police said on Monday.
”The mother, who was preparing vetkoek for their builder on Sunday night, put a batch on the stove and then fell asleep,” said Captain Jackson Manatha. ”It started to burn and there was a lot of smoke. The children died of suffocation as a result of the smoke.”
The builder, who went to the house at Sokapase village in Ngqamakwe near Butterworth at about 7am on Monday, found the mother and an 11-year-old boy in a serious condition, and two children aged two and seven already dead.
The mother was taken to Ngqamakwe hospital and was reported to be in a stable condition on Monday afternoon. Her son was in a serious condition in a hospital in Butterworth.
The names of the four could not be released as their next of kin had not yet been informed of the incident, Manatha said. — Sapa