fire and rescue Cape Town fleet Photo: YouTube screenshot

fire and rescue Cape Town fleet Photo: YouTube screenshot

Young boy the sole survivor after Tafelsig fire kills five family members

A man, woman and three girls were killed in a fire that broke out at a Mitchells Plain home in Cape Town on Saturday morning.

fire and rescue Cape Town fleet Photo: YouTube screenshot

fire and rescue Cape Town fleet Photo: YouTube screenshot

Tragedy struck on Saturday morning, 24 July, in Tafelsig, Mitchells Plain in Cape Town. All but one member of a family died in an early morning house fire, according to the City of Cape Town’s fire and rescue service.

FAMILY KILLED IN TAFELSIG FIRE, SAYS CITY

Fire and Rescue spokesperson, Jermaine Carelse, said firefighters from the Mitchells Plain station responded to the Tafesig house after being alerted at 4:08  in the morning.

By 5:00 the blaze was extinguished, according to Carelse. “When crews from Mitchells Plain fire station arrived at the scene in Buffelshoek Street, they found a Wendy house engulfed in flames,” said Carelse.

Unfortunately, a man, woman and three girls were declared dead at the scene. A boy managed to survive and was treated for burn wounds at the scene before being transported to a nearby hospital.

Once firefighters extinguished the blaze, they handed the scene over to the South African Police Service (SAPS). Carelse said the police have opened an inquest docket.

MITCHELLS PLAIN WOMAN DIES IN BLAZE

In an unrelated incident earlier this year, a 46-year-old woman was burnt to death in a fire that broke out at her home in Weltevreden Road, Mitchells Plain on 12 June.

“When firefighters arrived at the scene of the fire… they found a double-storey house ablaze and were informed that there was a person inside,” said Carelse, at the time.

The body of the deceased was found at 5:18 and the fire was completely put out by 6:50. Carelse said the cause of the fire was unknown.