Cape Town - The final cry of a one-year-old boy who died with his sister in a shack fire will always haunt their Fisantekraal neighbour because she could do little to help the children.
“I heard him cry. I couldn’t do anything to rescue him, I just heard him cry and suddenly there was silence,” sobbed Elaine Hartzenberg.
One-year-old Jayden Fransman and his sister Javeen, 3, were killed in a fire that destroyed their home in Goedverwacht, Fisantekraal in the early hours of on Monday.
Their mother, Antoinette Fransman, 36, and two siblings, Lee-Anne and Ashwyn, aged 11 and 7, had burn wounds and were rushed to hospital for treatment.
The fire is believed to have been sparked by an electric fault.
It destroyed four backyard wooden structures and left 15 people homeless.
Hartzenberg, a community leader and one of the first respondents to the fire, said she was woken by screams.
“I peeped through the window and saw flames coming from Antoinette’s home. I ran out and as I was running towards the shack, Antoinette was running towards me. I held her and felt her skin peeling.
“Another neighbour came and he went in and got Lee-Anne out. He went back again and rescued Ashwyn. He couldn’t go back in again because the flames were strong. Javeen was sleeping, but we could hear Jayden crying. He cried and cried and we couldn’t rescue him. We couldn’t do anything,” said an emotional Hartzenberg.
Fransman and her family have been living in the backyard wendy house for almost two years. Her aunt, Hendrika Blaau, said the family was heartbroken and shocked by the tragic incident.
“We are heartsore. There was nothing that we could do to prevent the fire or save them,” said Blaauw.
She lives a street away from the Fransmans' home.
She said she was also woken by screams and realised later it was her niece’s home that was engulfed in flames.
“In five seconds it was all over. The homes had been burnt to the ground.
“It hurts to even think about what happened. We just can’t believe they are gone,” cried Blaauw.
When the Cape Argus visited the site, neighbours were helping clear up the scene. Eskom was already at scene to rewire cables.
City Fire and Rescue spokesman Theo Layne said the cause of the fire was undetermined.