Fifteen people, including at least eight children, were burnt to death at an orphanage outside Newcastle on Tuesday, the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) department of social development said.
Another nine children were hospitalised.
“The number of people burnt to death has risen to 15,” said Mandla Ngema, spokesperson for provincial minister of social development Meshack Radebe.
Superintendent Jay Naicker said the police were called to the Hope in Christ Home at eNgogo about 6am on Tuesday.
‘The [provincial minister] is going today [Tuesday] to the scene of the accident to asses the situation,” said Ngema.
It was believed the children burnt were aged between two and 15.
Two vehicles outside the house were also burnt.
‘We have arranged social workers to counsel those that survived in this accident,” Ngema said.
Naicker said fire investigators from Pretoria were on their way to investigate the cause of the fire.
Ngema said Hope in Christ Home was an orphanage administered by the department of social development. — Sapa