The community of Hillview are reeling in shock after a young boy tragically died in a fire which swept through the informal settlement on Monday.
The hartseer ouma of Zane Fouten, 12, says they have been left traumatised after his charred body was found behind a door in the kitchen.
Ouma Faiza Watson, 62, says the family was fast asleep when the fire broke out early on Monday morning.
Watson says: “I was woken up by my other son who shouted that it was burning. I got up to look at whose home was burning and that is when I felt the ground was hot and saw the smoke was everywhere. We ran out immediately.”
Meanwhile, Zane, a Grade 7 pupil at Hillview Primary School, had run into the kitchen to escape the flames, but became trapped.
The hartseer granny says: “All we heard was him crying for help and nobody could get to him.
“When the fire was extinguished, they found his body.”
Fire and rescue services spokesperson, Jermaine Carelse, confirms the incident in St Boniface Road and says a man also sustained third-degree burns in the fire.
Carelse says: “By 4.25am, firefighters had managed to extinguish the blaze that razed approximately four informal structures and left more than 15 persons displaced.
“The body of the male minor, that succumbed to fatal burn wounds, was discovered at around 4am.
“A man who sustained burn wounds was treated and transported to a nearby medical facility. The cause of the fire at this stage is unknown pending an investigation from SAPS.”
Ali Sablay from Gift of the Givers says they are assisting the family to obtain Fouten’s DNA results.