Five people — including a two-year-old — died in a house fire in Schoemansville, Hartbeespoort Dam, on Wednesday, said North West police.
Inspector Moses Manaiwa said a middle-aged man and his wife, whose names were being withheld, were outside preparing to go to work at 6.30am when they heard screams from inside the house.
The flames were already so fierce that they could not enter through the front door, he said.
They ran to the side of the house to break their way in through the windows, but were unable to get in because of the burglar proofing.
Inside the house were the couple’s toddler, aged two, a son aged 14, their 19-year-old daughter and the children’s 75-year-old grandmother.
”The wife somehow managed to get in,” said Manaiwa, but she died along with the rest of the family. The only survivor was her husband, who had run to summon help.
”The whole house is burned down,” said Manaiwa. The cause of the fire was not yet known.
He said the bodies of the dead were not all found in one room, but in different locations throughout the house, which he described as being of ”reasonable” size.
He said the traumatised man had since been offered accommodation.
Police have opened an inquest docket. — Sapa