‘I was confused, I didn’t understand why they died’

One after the other, half an hour apart, Fernando Chuire received calls from the Boksburg Hospital to say that his two brothers had died.

His third brother was declared dead on arrival at the facility after a gas leak at Angelo informal settlement in Boksburg, on the East Rand, on Wednesday night.

The death toll was sitting at 17 by 5pm yesterday. Several other people were still in hospital, including Chuire's two-year-old daughter Wildere.

Chuire said he was woken up by the smell of gas.

“The smell was too strong. I woke up my wife and told her I was going to check on my brothers as there was a smell of gas.

“When I got out, I found one of my brothers [Jeremiah Chuire, 35,] had passed out in the passage. I wasn't sure if he was breathing or not. I tried waking him up but he did not. I screamed out to my other brother for help,” said Chuire, 22.

He said when his brothers Benedict, 24, and Bonifasi, 18, came out of their shacks, they tried moving Jeremiah to one of the shacks. He heard a lot of coughing coming from the other shacks nearby.

Chuire said Benedict fell down.

“Not long after Benedict collapsed, my son also passed out. While I was trying to wake them up, my wife screamed, saying Wildere was not waking up.

“I asked our neighbour for transport to take them to the hospital,” Chuire said.

He said Jeremiah was declared dead on arrival just after 6pm while Benedict, Bonifasi and Wildere were taken to the intensive care unit.

Chuire said he rushed home to pack necessary items for the trio and when he arrived at the settlement, he fainted for about 30 minutes.

He said just after 8pm, he received the first call from the hospital, telling him that Benedict had died.

“I was so confused. I didn't understand why they died. About 30 minutes later, I received another call, saying Bonifasi has passed away. I was numb. I have so many questions about their deaths. I am hurting,” Chuire said.

The settlement is made up of shacks the community said they have been living in fear of illegal miners who have taken over the settlement.

A Gauteng EMS rescue technician, Aubrey Lewete, said they cordoned off a section where illegal miners were operating from what was seemingly set up as a makeshift mineral processor.

“You can see that they were still working and going through the process of sifting the material. They had hidden this place very well; all sides were covered with tarp, and no one could see these many pipes that were working here. I don’t say anyone knew what was going on here,” said Lewete. 

Judite Manhiça, who lost her son and his partner in the tragedy, told Sowetan that her neighbour informed her about the leak and that her son had collapsed.

“When I arrived there, my son and my daughter-in-law were dead. I couldn’t understand how this happened.” 

Manhiça said she lives in another part of the informal settlement.

Another resident Samaria Nyathami said she lost her husband and didn’t know what to do next. 

“I also don’t live this side. I was called and told my husband had passed. My husband works in construction. I can’t even begin to understand why this happened.

“My husband was the breadwinner. What am I supposed to do now. How do we continue to live. It’s not fair.”

A community member who asked not to be named said: “These miners would walk around with guns in the community, threatening anyone who saw their illegal activities. I've heard people saying they were threatened with death if they said anything.

“They have caused nothing but trouble for the community since last year. Innocent people have now died and they [illegal miners] are nowhere to be found,” said the man.

mashalek@sowetan.co.za