A five-year-old boy was buried at his mother's house on Saturday, 12th August 2023. The boy became a victim of a fire that gutted his paternal family house on Saturday, 5th August 2023.
It is reported that at around 08h25 in the evening, a bedroom of a five-roomed house of the Metswamere family in Khibitswane Village near Taung caught fire, which spread to other rooms but was contained before further damage was caused.
"I was in my bedroom with a friend and the baby [the deceased] when my friend alerted me that there was a movement outside and something smelled like burning. I asked my friend to go and inspect. That's when we saw fire coming out of my son's bedroom", said Selobelwang Elizabeth Metswamere, grandmother to the deceased and guardian on the night of the incident.
The boy died at Taung's local hospital before he could receive medical assistance. "He was rushed to the hospital but died on arrival. According to medical practitioners, he was overpowered by the heat and smoke", said Metswamere.
The room where the fire started was left with nothing in it. "We have lost everything that was in that bedroom, from the bed to some belongings inside, " added Metswamere.
No arrest has been made since the incident, but the police have opened two cases. "According to the information, when the electricity came back, the fire started, and the cause of the fire is unknown. The Taung police are investigating an inquest and arson case", the police spokesperson in the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati, Warrant Officer Tryphosa Van Rooyen, confirmed.
