TRAGEDY STRIKES AS DOBSONVILLE HOUSE COLLAPSES

Plea for help as family left homeless and bereaved

- MASABATA MKWANANZI

“WE HAVE nothing. It’s painful. I lost my mother, my sister, and my niece.” These were the words of 25-year-old Zintle Xaba, whose life was shattered when she watched her home collapse before her eyes in the early hours of yesterday morning.

“Right now, my siblings don’t even have a place to sleep, and we don't have funeral cover,” she said as she battled to contain her emotions. She often paused to cry while relating her ordeal to The Star.

Three people were killed after a double-storey building collapsed in the Doornkop informal settlement in Soweto. Among the victims were a one-year-old baby girl, a 60-year-old woman, and a 24-year-old woman, all members of the same family.

Xaba, who lives in Protea Glen, said she was not at home when the structure collapsed but was alerted by neighbours who heard a loud bang moments before the building came crashing down, trapping several family members beneath the rubble.

Six people were inside the house at the time of the collapse, according to Johannesburg Emergency Management Services (JEMS). When emergency crews arrived, three people were found trapped and later rescued during an overnight operation that began shortly after 3am.