Five children die in Eastern Cape shack fire

 

Five children died in a shack fire in an informal settlement in Potsdam, Eastern Cape police said on Tuesday.

 

On Monday, around 8.30pm, neighbours heard the children screaming in the shack, which their mother had apparently locked before going out to visit her boyfriend, Captain Mluleki Mbi said in a statement.

 

There was burglar proofing on the door and windows of the shack, in the Msintsi informal settlement in Potsdam, about 30km from East London.

 

"Emergency services were called in, but the shack was already completely gutted and all the five children, aged between five and 16, had died on the scene."

 

An inquest docket was opened. Police were considering whether to lay charges of neglect against the 38-year-old mother.

 

- Sapa