Family homeless after shack fire

CHARLOTTE NAMBADJA

A FAMILY in Windhoek is pleading for help from good Samaritans after their shack house was destroyed in a fire on Monday.

The family – single mother Rosalia Andjilu (40), her five-month-old baby, and children aged 10 and 12 – were left homeless when their shack burned down in the Hakahana informal settlement.

Andjilu said the cause of the fire was a gas stove which exploded and set her house alight after her children forgot to switch it off completely. The house was burnt to the ground.

Andjilu said she was at work when the blaze happened.

“When I was told about the incident at first I couldn't believe and I didn't even panic but the moment I got home I realised the damage of the fire and there is nothing I can do about it since what's done is done. I am so speechless, but one thing I am grateful to God [about is] that my kids are alive and were not hurt by the fire.”

Andjilu said she leaves her youngest child with neighbours when she goes to work and usually leaves the older ones at home alone, while her neighbours keep an eye on them.

One of her neighbours, Ester Amweelo, said she was present when the shack was burning, but it was too late to save any of its contents, as the fire was overwhelming.

“The other neighbours came to assist to pour water and stop the fire and the time the firefighters came it was too late. When they arrived, we have already put the fire out.”

Fortunately, there was no child inside the shack as the children were outside playing, she said.

Having lost all of her belongings in the house, Andjilu has been given a blanket and mattress by her neighbours, and she and her children now sleep in a tent next to her destroyed shack.

Any donation would be highly appreciated, Andjilu said.