Johannesburg - Three children were killed in a fire at their home in Krugersdorp in the west of Joburg on Thursday morning and firefighters battled to douse an inferno at an ink factory in Cleveland, in the south of the city.
Residents of Sinqobile Phase 3 outside Kagiso, Krugersdorp, woke up on Thursday morning to the gruesome discovery that 1-year-old twins and their 4-year brother had died in a fire at home. The children’s parents were at work.
Kagiso police station received a call just after 7am from a woman that a shack in her yard was on fire. She ran out and called for help from her neighbours who broke down the burning shack door.
One of the bystanders said the children were already dead as they were burnt beyond recognition. The neighbours tried in vain to douse the flames but could not retrieve the children’s bodies as the flames grew bigger.
A fire engine arrived just after 8am, put out the fire and confirmed that there were three little bodies in the wrecked shack.
The children’s mother arrived shortly thereafter screaming uncontrollably and was treated by paramedics at the scene.
Police spokesman Warrant Officer Solomon Sibiya said this was the second such incident in the same area in a matter of weeks.
Sibiya urged the community to not leave children at home.
An inquest docket will be opened and the police are still scouring the scene to establish the cause of the fire.
The children’s father, who arrived just before 10am, was inconsolable.
He was also treated by paramedics.
The incident left many of the bystanders in tears.
Meanwhile, a black cloud of smoke left the Cleveland area along the M2 highway in darkness.
As firefighters battled to douse the flames at an ink factory there, one of their colleagues sat in an ambulance with an oxygen mask on after inhaling toxic fumes from the smoke.
Workers who had arrived to start their 6am shift looked on with worry, wondering if they still had jobs.
At around 4am, about six people were on duty at Continental Printing Inks when the fire alarm went off.
Herman Woite, the company’s regional manager, said workers were evacuated safely as the company has a precise fire drill.
“We also have our own fire team which tried to put down the fire but they could not as it was too big.
“The fire also spread quickly,” he said.
“We have eight buildings and two were affected by the fire. We don’t know what the cause is.
“Our main concern now is to put down the fire and we will assess the damage later and see what caused the fire.”
The company manufactures printing ink and the chemicals used in the manufacturing process are believed to have aggravated the fire. As the fire raged on, there were some desperate attempts to salvage some things. Firefighters used forklifts to remove some of the raw material as well as some of the ink that had already been manufactured.
Due to the severity of the fire, the nearby Shell filling station was evacuated.
A 49-year-old ink factory employee who did not want to be named said a colleague sent him a message very early on Thursday morning, telling him about the fire.
As he lives close by, he arrived at work much earlier and saw the scene unfold. The father of three mixes inks and he saw that the portion in which he works was engulfed by flames.
“I am worried as this means I might have to stay home while the company rebuilds this place. I don’t even know if I will get paid while staying home. I have a wife and three children.
“I don’t even have hope of a getting a bonus anymore,” the man said.
Another employee later arrived at the scene, put his hands in the pockets and shook his head as he watched the dark smoke billowing through the air.
After years of unemployment he finally got lucky and found a job at the company last month. As he watched the activity before him he looked defeated.
“I don’t know whether I still have a job,” he said.
The Star