'Heartbroken' Oribi Village family tells of losing home in fire
The Pietermaritzburg residents who lost their homes in a fire are trying to salvage what they can as they look to rebuild their lives.
Three homes in Oribi Village were destroyed by the blaze on Monday.
Affected resident Hennie van der Merwe says a neighbour raised the alarm when they saw smoke coming out of one of the rooms of his house.
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"Kids were alone at home and it was load shedding. There was no power as yet and when the power came on, half an hour after that the, somebody came to my daughter, she was busy in the kitchen and someone said to her there is some coming out of your mother's room, go and see what is going on.
"When she got into the room half of the room was already up in flames. As far as what I could see from it, it was an electrical problem."
He says they are all devastated.
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"They are all feeling heartbroken, sad, devastated and my youngest one he doesn't know yet what is going on. At night he asks me 'Dad they ask me when are we going home?’ And I don't know what to say to him."
