WALVIS BAY – The mother of a 13-year-old boy accused of starting the shack fire on Friday afternoon in Walvis Bay, said her son did not do it.
She said they have been experiencing problems with electricity at home for a while, and were also without electricity from Thursday until Friday afternoon.
The emotional Asteria Damases yesterday told New Era that her son was prematurely made the scapegoat without any investigation having been done by the fire brigade or the police.
The said fire claimed the life of a three-year-old child who was left in the care of an aunt, and also left 111 people homeless.
“The fire happened three hours after the electricity came back on and my son was not around, nor did he cook. I was not at home when the fire broke out, but everyone we stay with confirmed that he did not cause the fire,” Damases said.
She added that her son was treated very badly and subjected to verbal attacks from some of the fire victims.
Damases said the homeowner’s son was fixing the electricity supply, and even fixed her cable on Thursday.
According to her, six shacks were connected to two cables. She now suspects that the cables were not sufficient to supply six shacks as well as the main home with electricity.
“I even bought my cables at PEP, and they are not strong enough. Maybe the electricity came back very strong and caused a short circuit,” she narrated.
She said her son is not coping well, and that the incident will haunt him for the rest of his life.
“Imagine being accused of being responsible for a fire that killed another child. I feel so sorry for the mother, and I wish her son could have been rescued. Our belongings can be replaced, but her son will never be replaced”, a sad Damases said.
She now just wants her son to be cleared of any wrongdoing.
Alwina Visser, also a fire victim, said the minor was in her care after school, and only ate bread and juice before he went to play with friends.
“He really did not switch on anything, and was not even at home when the electricity came back on or when the fire started,” she explained.
Another fire victim, Emily Amukoto, also agreed with Visser that the boy was not home when the electricity came back on around 14h00.
She said she could smell plastic burning while in her shack, and started coughing.
“I went to see what it was, as it wasn’t the usual smell when food is burning. That’s when I saw smoke coming from Damases’ shack and started screaming to alert my neighbours,” she continued.
Meanwhile, community affairs commander, Inspector Ileni Shapumba yesterday told New Era that the investigation has not concluded that the fire was indeed caused by the boy, and people should refrain from blaming him.
edeklerk@nepc.com.na
Caption
Not guilty… Asteria Damases with her son, whom she says did not cause the shack fire that left 111 people homeless at Walvis Bay on Friday.
Photo: Eveline de Klerk