woman and 3 kids dies in Germiston shack fire

The children- siblings who were aged , 7 and 2 as well as a 43-year-old woman were burned beyond recognition at the Marathon informal settlement on Sunday night ( 01 May 2022) 

"Last night's incident was tragic. On search and rescue, we found the three bodies of the three siblings and they died at the same time. The mother had minor injuries. We are aware the 43 year old woman was from the other shack as the fire spread violently across," Emergency Services spokesperson William Ntladi said.

The actual case of the fire is alleged to have been a paraffin stove which was left unattended.

Energy poverty e.g the lack of access to modern energy is the reason behind burn injury and shack fires in South Africa. The expenditure based definition classified 47% of the SA population as experiencing energy poverty.

Informal settlements are particularly vulnerable to community wide conflagrations owing to the density of such areas, the composition of home structures and flammable building materials, the storage and use of paraffin or kerosene.