BY THE time the neighbours heard their screams, it was too late.
A family of six died in a shack fire in Philippi East’s Polar Park, Cape Town on Monday night.
When the flames finally died down, neighbours who had tried to save them found their burnt bodies – two under a bed and four near the door.
Neighbour Ntombizanele Ndleleni (40) said it was about 11pm when she heard the gogo and kids screaming for help.
“My son and the neighbours tried to put out the fire, but it was too late. We have electricity here, but the gogo’s son used a candle on the table,” said Ntombizanele.
The gogo lived with her two kids and three grandchildren in the two-roomed shack.
The neighbours said gogo and her family were good people.
Another neighbour, Thabisa Mayaphi (45) said: “I was asleep when I heard people screaming.
“At first I thought it was tsotsis but my child said there was a fire.
“When I got outside there was a lot of smoke and people fighting the blaze.”
Residents said the mum of the three kids was taken for counselling when she arrived at the scene to find her family all dead.
Edward Bosch, a spokesman for Cape Town’s Fire and Rescue Services, said six people died and one person was rushed to hospital with serious injuries.
“Three wood and iron structures and a spaza shop were destroyed,” said Bosch.
“The dead included two women, a man, a young boy and girl, and a female infant.”
The cause of the fire is still unknown.
Disaster management spokeswoman Charlotte Powell said their officials had been sent to the scene to provide help, including trauma counselling.
