A devastating fire tore through a residential home in Charclay, Phoenix, claiming the lives of two siblings after a cellphone reportedly exploded, igniting a sofa and spreading rapidly throughout the house.
Emergency services arrived to find the home engulfed in flames and thick smoke, making evacuation efforts extremely difficult. It is believed that the two victims, a woman and her brother, aged between 30 and 35, were trapped in separate rooms – the woman in a bedroom and the man in a bathroom.
Community members and response officers from KZN VIP desperately tried to rescue the victims, breaking windows in an attempt to provide an escape route. However, the intensity of the fire and dense smoke made it impossible to reach them.
Firefighters managed to pull the woman from the burning house, but despite immediate CPR efforts by KZN VIP medics, she was pronounced dead at the scene, having suffered third-degree burns. The second victim, the male sibling, was later retrieved from the building, but resuscitation attempts were unsuccessful, and he too succumbed to his injuries.
Community members and emergency responders attempted to control the flames using hosepipes, wet sand, and ladders, but the extreme conditions made entry too dangerous.
Authorities have launched an investigation into the cause of the explosion and the subsequent fire. The tragedy has highlighted the critical importance of fire safety and the potential hazards of electronic devices in households.