A De Doorns mother who lost her three-month-old son in a fire on Sunday morning is inconsolable, according to the boy’s grandmother, Hester Barends.
The fire broke out in the early hours of the morning in the Sandhills GG Camp informal settlement. It destroyed the shack Angelique Kayster, 16, her baby Gabriel and two younger siblings, aged 12 and 14, lived in.
They were asleep at the time.
“Angelique does not know how the fire started but is sure she had blown out their candle. When she woke up, the flames were everywhere.
"The two younger children could not open the door. She helped them, and when she went for her son, the bed was surrounded in flames,” said Barends.
She said Angelique’s siblings had relayed events to her, telling of how the heat was unbearable and they barely made it out of the structure.
They had been receiving support from the community, but the family were broken by the events, said Barends, 41.
Gabriel’s father was in jail following a domestic dispute and was traumatised by the events, Barends added.
Ward councillor Juben von Willingh said the Breede Valley municipality would support the family through this harrowing time and had remained in contact with them following the incident.
Breede Valley municipality fire and rescue service’s Theo Botha said their members attended to the scene, ensuring the blaze was contained to the one structure, but had arrived too late to save the boy.
Police spokesperson FC van Wyk confirmed reports of a shack fire at the camp on Sunday morning.
“On arrival at the scene, police officers reported that a three-month-old child had died in the fire.
"The mother and two children, aged 12 and 14, survived the fire, and an inquest case was registered for investigation,” Van Wyk said.