Limpopo Police Probe Inquest After 4 Girl Children Burn to Death in Tzaneen House Fire

• Police in Limpopo are investigating an inquest following an incident in which four children were burnt to death in a house fire
• The incident happened in Calais village at the home the minors — three sisters and their cousin — occupied with their mother
• Police said the woman had left to go collect food items for another one of her children returning from initiation when the flames erupted

TZANEEN — Four minors were burnt to death when a fire broke out at their home in Calais village in the Maake area, Greater Tzaneen, trapping them inside.

Limpopo police opened an inquest into the incident after the home the children, aged three to 11, shared with their mother caught alight late on Friday, 12 July.

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Four minors die in Tzaneen house fire

Police spokesperson Colonel Malesela Ledwaba said the woman had left to collect perishables at a nearby homestead in preparation for one of her other children returning from an initiation school.

The community frantically tried to pull them from the structure as it went up in flames.

"[However], their efforts were in vain as, despite the emergency services' rapid response, they sadly succumbed to [their injuries]," said Mawela.

"Preliminary investigations revealed the mother of the three girl children — aged three, seven and nine — left them asleep in the company of their 11-year-old cousin, her nephew, to go to another residence nearby.

"She'd gone to collect food items at the [homestead] belonging to her mother, the children's grandmother, for her child, returning from the initiation school. When she returned, she found the house on fire with the children trapped inside."

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Mawela said the police were withholding the children's identities due to the ongoing investigation. The cause of the fire is unknown at this stage.

3 Youngsters die in Limpopo 'mbaula' tragedy

In related news, Briefly News reported that three youngsters died from suspected carbon monoxide poisoning while using a lit brazier, or "mbaula", to warm a room in a house at Ga-Mothiba village, outside Polokwane.

Alarmed family members awoke at dawn to discover the trio unresponsive and immediately contacted the authorities.

Ledwaba alleged that they had lit charcoal inside a brazier and kept it burning as they slept.

Source: Briefly News