Boy, men die as veld fire engulfs E Cape village
Boy, men die as veld fire engulfs E Cape village
06 October 2010
published by www.pretorianews.co.za
South Africa — Two men and a disabled six-year-old boy died of burns from a veld fire in Willowvale, south-east of Queenstown, Eastern Cape police said yesterday.
“We don’t know when the veld fire started but by Friday (October 1) lunchtime it was in Qhakaza village,” said Captain Jackson Manatha.
Phindile Balintulo, Mxolisi Ketile and six-year-old Phatuxolo Madikanean, all from different families, died when the fire engulfed their village.
“The men were trying to extinguish the fire and we don’t know where the child’s mother was at the time,” said Manatha.
They were rushed to hospitals in East London and Butterworth where all three died over the weekend.
Police are investigating but the cause of the fire was still unknown.
