A one-year-old baby has burned to death while the mother and two other siblings escaped with no injuries in a shack fire in the Havana informal settlement of Windhoek on Thursday night.

Family member Victoria Kativa told New Era the incident occurred after 3-year-old Maria Kasera was allegedly playing with a matchstick, while her mother Veronika Ndara (Kativa’s sister) was resting after she came from work.

“The fire spread to all corners of the house and that is when Kasera informed Ndara. It was too late; she could only escape with the one who caused the fire and could not save the baby. It was so bad,” she narrated.

Kativa said the family lost everything, including the stationaries, uniforms, national documents, blankets and food. 

“They need help. It is a big family, which is hard to accommodate and feed. To make matters worse, my sister has already depleted their coffers to buy uniforms and stationeries and now they are going to start over. There is no shelter. Maybe if there is anyone who can help, they can donate corrugated zincs and mattresses for them to have a shelter so that we can deal with food and clothing later,” she said.

Kativa noted that the family is now busy with burial preparations and cannot afford to cater to the needs of the children at the same time.

Police spokesperson, Deputy Commissioner Kauna Shikwambi confirmed the incident, saying the mother was sleeping together with her now deceased one-year-old child.  

“When the fire broke out, the mother was informed and out of confusion, she only grabbed the three-year-old and five-year-old, while the one-year-old burned beyond control,” Shikwambi said.

- ljason@nepc.com.na