Cape Town - A man and his three-year-old daughter burnt to death in Ramaphosa informal settlement in Boksburg on Thursday morning after he allegedly torched the family's shack.
The shack was "gutted by a ball of flames at around 05:00 in morning", said the Ekurhuleni municipality. Two of the man's other children escaped with minimal injuries.
When the city's fire services arrived at the scene, neighbours were trying to douse the fire with buckets of water.
Once fire fighters extinguished the blaze, they found the charred remains of a man in his forties and a three-year-old girl trapped under the rubble.
"It is alleged that the father deliberately set the shack alight with all three children still inside. The other two children aged five (a girl) and seven (a boy)
managed to escape prior to the fire," the city said.
The remains of a shack in Ramaphosa informal settlement where a man and his toddler burnt to death on Thursday morning after he allegedly set it alight. Picture: Supplied
"They apparently screamed for help and when neighbours intervened, the father locked himself and the three-year-old toddler behind the door and set the shack alight."
The neighbours tried to open the door of the shack, but it was too late to save the father and his daughter. The mother was apparently not at home when the incident occurred.
The city said the two surviving children were taken to Bertha Gxowa hospital in Germiston for medical and psychological treatment.
Police have launched an investigation.