Residents try to rescue Somalis trapped in blaze
Four people die in burning buiding
In a fire on 21 November, four Somali nationals died after they were trapped on the second floor of a burning building in Soweto-on-Sea, Port Elizabeth. Community members tried in vain to rescue them, but could not reach them due to burglar bars and the security fixtures.
Residents called the police and emergency services.They then secured the contents of the Somalis’ shop, Ngolonbeni Spaza, by fending off looters.
The deceased are: Rasheed Abdi (30), Hussein Gabow (38), Aweys Abdi (30), and Ahmed Hurshe (42). The cause of the fire has not been established.
A long-time resident of the area, whose house is next to the shop, Dibora Mdyubha, said, “The house is secured with heavy metal bars. This made the rescue operation by residents impossible.”
She said the Somalis had to secure their shop, “because this place is full of criminals”.
“Most of these criminals target foreigners because they are easy targets for them. I am still haunted by their voices [the trapped men] desperately crying for help.”
“This a very poor community with no shops … When these men came to open this shop in July, everybody was excited because for the first time after many years a shop was to be in our vicinity.
“We were in good books with the deceased. They also related well to us. I feel devastated … The Somali guys would give us groceries on credit and we would pay them at the end of the month. They would also give you whatever you wanted if your money was short.
“We are now struggling to go to get our basic necessities because the next nearby shop is far away and there are lots of criminals along the way,” she said.
Ayanda Tshoba, who also lives very close by, said, “I woke up after being choked by smoke. And then I heard voices yelling and crying out for help. By the time I went out to investigate, the entire street was full with anxious people.”
He said firefighters and the police responded immediately.
“We discouraged the youths and some criminals who wanted to loot the shop after the firefighters had opened its doors. We cannot do that to some of our African brothers who actually ran away from their countries because of war and famine … How can we destroy the little that we have?”
He said the deceased were well known to the community. “Before … they were operating a shop at the back of this street, at a house in Malibale Street where they used a garage …Their business was growing tremendously, so they came to open here to operate from a much larger shop.”
Secretary for the Somali Association of South Africa Mohamed Kat said, “I would like to thank the people of Soweto-on-Sea for showing an unusual behaviour. Foreign businesses are always targeted by locals, but these residents chose to help us. They are the ones who alerted the police and called the fire rescuers. The residents also phoned us and word quickly spread. When we were loading the goods of the deceased for safe keeping, the residents helped us.”
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