Two children who were left on their own when their grandmother, who stayed with them, went out for the night, died a terrible death when the room in which they were sleeping caught fire in the early hours of Saturday last week.

The incident has left the community in a state of shock and the fire remains a mystery. Not even the neighbours could explain it and no one witnessed the incident. It was just by chance that patrolling police noticed the fire. It happened at Tshifulanani Fhasi Ha Bada village outside Thohoyandou.

A statement from the police indicates that two student constables from the Vuwani SAPS, Ndivhoniswani Maisha and Ronny Khadammbi, were conducting a visibility patrol around the Lwamondo area when they noticed some smoke coming out of a house. On closer inspection, they heard voices of screaming children from the inside of the house. Police kicked the door open and managed to rescue a 10-year-old boy, who told them that there were still two children trapped inside the house.

The police tried in vain to enter the room as it was already engulfed in flames. They summoned the help form the local fire brigade, who responded within a short space of time. The fire was extinguished and the bodies of two children, aged 2 and 5, were found in the room. They were identified as the 2-year-old Maanda Mugari and his 5-year- old sister, Sheba Mugari.

Information at Mirror’s disposal indicates that the children stayed with their grandmother at Tshifulanani, while their mother stayed at Maunavhathu near Vuwani.

It is alleged that the grandmother had slept out, leaving the kids on their own on the night of the incident.

The surviving child, Pfano, was taken to the hospital. The grandmother is alleged to have collapsed after hearing the news of the death of the kids and she was also hospitalised.