Five Itireleng kids, three boys aged 2, 4 and 6, and two girls aged 1 year, 5 months and 7 years, belonged to two sisters burnt to death when their shack caught alight in the early hours of Sunday morning, Cllr Patel said.
According to an Itireleng resident who was on scene, the children were unable to escape flames in the shack as they were locked inside.
”The mothers had locked the children in the shack and had gone out to a shebeen, and this is why the children were unable to escape,” the resident told Laudium Today.
The fire spread quickly and destroyed another 4 shacks at the Itireleng informal settlement.
According to reports the kids were burnt beyond recognition.
It is believed that the stove was left on.
Both women have been arrested by SAPS.
No other injuries were reported
