No truth to freezer tragedy rumours

Published Jan 26, 2016

Share

KImberley - Rumours that a criminal case has been opened after five children suffocated in a freezer in Kakamas last week have been rubbished by police.

Police confirmed on Monday that only an inquest has been opened to investigate the incident which left an entire community in mourning.

The five cousins - brothers Adrian, 7, and Jamain Majiedt, 3, Anastasia Majiedt, 3, and brother and sister Eldridge,3, and Elzaan Johnson, 5 - were found dead in a freezer in Kakamas on Tuesday afternoon after being sent home to change for church.

While many have questioned why the children had been left unsupervised when the incident took place, police spokeswoman, Major Dimakatso Mooi, on Monday said that while the matter was being investigated in order to establish what precisely transpired, no criminal charges have been laid.

The children were left in the care of their grandmother, Maria Nkhonto, who told the media last week that she had sent the five children home to get dressed appropriately for church. Her husband, Samuel, was at home at the time.

After realising that the yard was suspiciously quiet, Nkhonto said she went to look for the five children but could not find them.

According to Nkhonto, she then contacted Adrian and Jamain’s mother, Adriana Majiedt, to inform her that the children were missing.

It then dawned on her to check in the faulty freezer, where she found the bodies of the five children.

“The police in Kakamas have opened an inquest case after five children, aged between three and seven years old respectively, were found dead inside a freezer,” said Mooi.

“It is alleged that on January 19, at about 6pm, the grandmother of the children found them all suffocated inside an old freezer in their yard. It is believed the freezer locked accidentally while the kids were playing inside it.

“The case opened is an inquest and the information still remains the same as last week.”

DFA

Related Topics: