As the flames engulfed the burning shack, the three children who burnt to death could be heard screaming for their mother before everything went quiet.
These are the words of Johanna Sikunda, the aunt of the children who died in a shack fire last Sunday at Mix Settlement near Windhoek.
According to a police report, the children were sleeping when the shack caught fire at around 02h00.
“It was the last thing we could hear, the children screaming ‘mom!’, and then it just went quiet.
“There was nothing she could do. She could not run into the fire,” Sikunda says.
These sounds will haunt everyone who heard them for the rest of their lives, she says.
“It is not easy, it is not easy at all … It is done and we cannot reverse it,” she says.
Sikunda says this is the first time the family has lost children.
“We have experienced mothers, brothers and sisters passing, but this is the first time we lose children. It is going to be difficult,” she says.
Out of the seven family members who live in the house, only the three children were asleep, Sikunda says.
She says their mother and some of the other girls were visiting their next-door neighbour.
“If they were all in the house, they would have all burned inside there,” she says.
The youngest victim, Michael Shinyama, would have turned three this past Saturday, while another victim, Magdalena Hamwanyena, celebrated her seventh birthday last month.
She was in Grade 1 with her sibling, the 10-year-old Verdiano Hanghome, who also died.
They lived in a shack with four other family members, including their mother.
Their shack is one of three that burned down this year at Mix Settlement.
Sikunda says the children were good kids.
“Especially Junior. When his mother or grandmother came from work he used to come and take off their shoes, take it to the room and bring them slippers,” she says of little Michael.
The family is currently living in a tent with a mattress and says any contribution to get back on their feet would help.
“… be it pots, plates, cups, or anything … it would be of great help,” Sikunda says.
The family was given the tent by the municipality, and says a representative of the Khomas Regional Council said the council would provide them with corrugated iron.
Sikunda says the municipality should help them with access to electricity so they would not need to use candles.
“The lack of electricity is really a problem,” she says.
Community leader Johannes Nghifikwa says their years of requests for electricity have so far only resulted in street lights installed last year.
He says the community has been told the municipality has budgeted for electricity.
“But we don’t trust where it has been implemented, because we have been waiting for a long time. They said we have to be allocated erven,” Nghifikwa says.
City of Windhoek spokesperson Harold Akwenye on Thursday said the city’s first responders, consisting of two fire engines, one response vehicle, and an ambulance, arrived at the scene at 03h08.
“Despite their swift efforts, the fire had already consumed the two-bedroom informal dwelling, making it impossible to save the children.
“The mother and daughter were rushed to Katutura Intermediate Hospital due to the distressing news,” he said.
According to the police, the children’s mother had locked the shack where the children were sleeping and had left, leaving the neighbours unable to rescue those inside.
“The exact cause of the fire remains undetermined, and the scene has been handed over to a warrant officer for further investigation,” Akwenye said.
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