KNYSNA NEWS - Minutes after Werner Kleinhans was pulled from his burning house in Karatara on Saturday 7 June, he watched helplessly as his fiancée, Elza Booyens (42), and their four-year-old-son, Johannes, perished in the flames.
Gert de Lange ("GT"), who was also in the house, and Werner, escaped the blaze that started at about 06:45 at 17 Akkerlaan, Karatara.
Werner was assisted by neighbours to escape through the back door, while Gert and Elza, who was carrying Johannes in her arms, headed for the front door.
“For some reason [that] we will never know, she then turned back into the house,” said Caryn Myburgh, Werner’s sister-in-law who also lives in Karatara.
Ironically, Elza had been the first to raise the alarm.
Nightmare
Neighbours could hear Elza calling and tried to extricate Elza and Johannes through a bedroom window after breaking the burglar bars. Then the roof collapsed, and Elza and Johannes died in the fire.
“It is a nightmare,” said Caryn.
She said Werner could not speak after the tragedy. “He kept crying and crying and crying… as he was sitting an ambulance". Both Werner and GT can only remember "bits and pieces" of the tragic event.
Caryn took Werner to a nearby house that belongs to the Kleinhans family before the bodies of Elza and Johannes were removed.
“There is nothing we can say to Werner. It is devastating, not only to the family, but the whole community,” said Caryn.
Fire services delay
The family has questioned why it took the fire brigade hours to arrive. Estimates of the response time varied between one and a half hours and three hours.
It appears that there was some confusion over accessing the fire tender (water carrier) at Karatara, about 200m from where the blaze took place. Eventually, a fire tender from Sedgefield arrived.
Alberto Marbi, who was present in the aftermath and emphasised that he was speaking as a concerned resident, said in a message sent to the Knysna Plett Herald on Saturday:
“Today as we celebrate the Knysna 2017 fires, this tragedy struck again in Karatara to take the two lives and this really got the community emotional as it took the fire department one and a half hours to get to the scene whilst a fire truck that is stationed in Karatara was locked up and the keys somewhere.
“This tragic moment brings again the question of the deserted rural areas not being taken seriously when it comes to emergencies.”
Southern Cape police spokesperson Sergeant Chris Spies said an inquest docket was opened after two bodies were retrieved from the debris at about 06:45.
“Preliminary reports available suggest that police were dispatched to the scene where a house was on fire. On arrival they found the premises on fire. The bodies of the victims, believed to be a woman and boy, were found under debris.”
Suspended
Spies said the cause of the fire is yet to be established.
The municipal driver /operator of the fire tender stationed in Karatara was suspended a month ago and the keys to the store where the truck was kept, was taken away from him.
He said if he had not been suspended he could have reacted to the emergency much quicker.
According to Myburgh, the family will be meeting this week to decide on the funeral arrangements for Elza and Johannes.
• Though other media reports claimed that Saturday was little Johannes’ birthday, family members have confirmed it was actually the birthday of Alex, another person living in a back room on the property and who was not affected by the fire.
Read previous articles:
Stop rumours about Karatara fire, beseeches family member | Knysna-Plett Herald
Karatara fire claims two lives | Knysna-Plett Herald
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