Neighbour recalls harrowing Pretoria West house fire
Harrowing details have emerged about the Pretoria West house fire that left five people dead.
Five members of the same family were burnt to death after they became trapped inside their home in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
The five deceased included four males aged 6, 18, 22 and 24 years and a female aged 46 years.
A 45-year-old mother and 3-year-old boy escaped with minor injuries.
Tshwane Emergency spokesperson Charles Mabaso told SABC the two survivors were taken to a nearby hospital for observation.
"The mother escaped with only a laceration on the forehead, but the child suffered smoke inhalation only.
"As we speak, they are still being observed at the hospital."
Law enforcement confirmed a local man that helped save the mother and toddler before medics arrived at the scene.
It's understood the neighbour caught wind of the fire and rushed back home from work to help.
"I was looking for anything that I can use to break the door or the burglar [bars] but I couldn't find anything until my wife came with the spade - we tried to open, and we failed," the man recalls.
"Then she brought an axe, it's the one that I used to open the burglar [bars] of the main bedroom and I managed to take out the small child. After taking out the baby, I went back again to take out the mother.”
The neighbour told media he tried feverishly to save the other family members.
"I went back for the third time, but I was unsuccessful. I didn't manage to rescue five of the deceased."
It's unclear how the fire erupted.
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