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Baby dies in house fire
01/09/2007 14:43 - (SA)
Kimberley - A four-month-old baby boy burnt to death when a fire broke out in the bedroom of his home in Galeshewe near Kimberley, Northern Cape police said on Saturday.
Captain Tony Modise said it was believed that the boy, his 24-year-old mother, her boyfriend and his siblings, aged five and two had been asleep in the bedroom in Soul City around 23:45 on Friday when the fire broke out.
"The neighbours apparently saw the bedroom on fire and immediately came to assist," he said.
The family had been unaware of the fire as they had been sleeping, Modise said.
Neighbours managed to break into the house through a window, after knocking on the door had failed the wake the family.
When the family escaped from the fire, the four-month-old baby boy was left inside.
"They went back to rescue the baby, whom they found alive, but he died minutes after he was removed from the bedroom that was on fire," he said.
Modise said members of the community had "worked tirelessly" to extinguish the fire with buckets of water.
None of the other family members were injured and only clothing and furniture in the bedroom had been destroyed.
Modise said the cause of the fire was believed to be a candle that was left burning in the bedroom.
A post-mortem would be conducted on the baby to determine the exact cause of death but no foul play was suspected.
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