Pastor, child dies in orphanage shack fire

A pastor and a child with a disability died in a shack fire at Prayer House Church and orphanage at Havana informal settlement in Windhoek on Sunday.

The orphanage caters for about 10 children.

This was confirmed by national police spokesperson deputy commissioner Kauna Shikwambi over the weekend.

She identified the deceased as Elia Geingob (42) and Oubed Skrywer (14).

Shikwambi said the cause of the fire is unknown and police investigations are continuing.

Geingob was said to have been sleeping in his room while another pastor, Johannes Gowaseb, conducted a church service in the nearby church hall when the shack caught fire.

Also in the room with Geingob was Skrywer, a child with hydrocephalus who uses a wheelchair, Geingob’s sister, Isabella Goagoses, said.
She said everyone was in church when a girl (15) raised the alarm that Geingob’s room was on fire.

Everyone rushed out of the church to put out the fire, which was already too hot by that time, Goagoses said.

Church members then tore down the chack’s zinc panels to try and save the pastor and the child, but it too late.

“When we broke down the shack, pastor Geingob and the child were already dead. I suspect they could have choked from the smoke,” Gowaseb said.

He said by the time the police and the fire brigade arrived at the scene, the fire also reached the adjacent children’s sleeping quarters.
Geingob’s wife was taken to hospital due to shock.

“The children lost all their clothes in the fire,” Gowaseb said, appealing for assistance with food, clothing or blankets.
He said the children only have food for about two days.

Volunteer preacher Tapiwa Teta who visited the orphanage with his congregation to donate food yesterday expressed shock at the tragedy.

“I am shocked to the core,” he said, adding his group would collect blankets and other items to help the children.