Joburg Fire: Woman’s Agonising Account of How She Found Her Three Nieces Burnt To Death
A Gauteng woman has painfully recounted how she found her three nieces burnt to death in the Joburg fire.
Ntombifuthi Shange (33) went to identify her nieces’ bodies at the Diepkloof mortuary in Soweto on Friday morning, 1 September, and the memory, still raw in her head, will remain etched with her forever.
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Nokwanda Khanyile (27), Snikihwe Seme (22) and Bongi Nkomo (25) also died during a fire in a five-storey building on the corner of Albert and Delvers streets in Johannesburg. The hijacked building, called Usindiso shelter, burnt down on Thursday, 31 August, claiming 77 lives and 52 injured.
[Image: Zandile Khumalo/Daily Sun]Aunt Finds Three Nieces Burnt In Joburg Fire
A heartbroken Ntombifuthi told the Daily Sun how she found the three and how Nokwanda was the most badly charred:
“I just knew it was her because of her body. She had her hands crossed over her chest and was holding a phone. I could not see Bongiwe because it was getting too much for me. It was my family who wanted to identify her.
“When I went in there, my mind was completely elsewhere. I never thought they would end up here. In my heart, I had hoped that I would find them in hospital, but unfortunately, that did not happen.
“When I came here, I prayed that there would be no confusion with her body, and that did not happen, so I am glad. It hurts, but I am glad we can have closure,” she said.
The three will be buried in KwaZulu-Natal, where they hailed from.
ALSO READ: Double Tragedy: Mother Loses Two Children in Joburg Fire
Body Identification
The Gauteng government is still in the process of identifying the burnt victims of the Joburg fire.
Motalatale Modiba, the Gauteng Department of Health spokesperson, said they would have to wait for the current DNA method to reduce incidents where families are given the wrong bodies.