Another tragedy strikes in the township today. Three shacks connected together burn to the ground when one shack catches fire due to faulty electrical connection at Freedom Park, Devland, Soweto.
The incident took place at 10 am.
The area had no electricity for over 20 hours. The fire starts off in the shack that was in the middle of the three ones. The wires which were all bare tripped when electricity came back in the area.
According to eyewitnesses who were the first to arrive at the scene stated that the owner of the shack that caught fire watched as her house caught fire. She didn't wail for help from her neighbours. The fire then caught the mattress which was near the bare wires and smoke was all over the place. She waited until the fire was strong enough to cry for help. However, it was too late. The fire spread all over the house easily lighting the next ones connected to it. The owners of the other shacks were informed of this and forced to renounce their duties and return home.
The owner of the yard stated that she had always warned her tenants about their faulty electrical connection but they never heeded her warnings. Who is to be blamed for this? Was the landlord inconsiderate of not taking matters into her hands by trying to fix her tenants wire connections?
As we speak, three households have no place to sleep tonight. The landlord has lost her primary source of income as having to fix these shacks requires money which she does not have.
The Firefighters team battled to put down the fire as it kept on erupting in small places. They were fortunate after an hour.
Sadly, nothing was left of the shacks. At least, no casualties were recorded.
Below are photos of what remains of the shacks that housed people.
