Elizabeth Bosman passed her two children through a small window and ran for her life as smoke filled her room.
|||Cape Town - “I thought as long as my children were safe I can die.”
This went through a mother’s head as she was forced to hand her baby and small child through a small window on the first floor of Salt River’s Locomotive Hotel to save them from approaching flames in an alleged arson attack.
Police spokesman FC van Wyk said on Tuesday they were searching for Cameron Dimitri Dias, 21, of Kensington, suspected of the arson.
“It is alleged that after a heated argument between a couple staying at the Locomotive Hotel on Monday, the boyfriend went to the room and set it alight. The fire damaged seven rooms, and left 30 adults and five children homeless,” he said.
Van Wyk said Dias fled and remains at large. “The circumstances are under investigation. A case of arson is being investigated,” he said.
Elizabeth Bosman said she was asleep with her five-month-old and four-year-old sons when she heard banging on her door and neighbours alerting her to the fire after 11pm.
“I was so scared, I grabbed my children, but there was so much smoke so we couldn’t go down the stairs,” she said.
Bosman has lived in the building, one of Salt River’s oldest, on the corner of Albert Road and Durham Avenue for several years.
She said the only way to ensure the safety of her children was to pass them through a small window from the first floor to community members below.
“One of my neighbours told me to put my children out the window so they can catch them. I thought as long as my children were safe I can die, then I just put a wet cloth over my face and ran,” she said.
“We lost most of our things, but I’m glad no one got hurt.”
Another resident, Brian Randall, said the building manager had offered to give them their R2 000 deposit immediately, but they were required to look for their own alternative accommodation.
On Tuesday, charred items were being carried from the building as some who had lost most of their belongings just sat on the pavement.
When the Cape Times approached the owner, who identified himself as Steven Jones, he said he was distressed by the incident, but would comment to the media only on Wednesday.
Fire and Rescue spokesman Theo Layne said:
“Everyone inside the building at the time of the fire was evacuated and no injuries were reported. The building was declared unsafe as there was extensive damage to the roof and first floor.”
Layne said authorities were investigating the fire.
Police have urged anyone who may know the identity and whereabouts of the man in the image on the right, or have information about the incident to contact Constable Donovan Petersen at Woodstock police station on 021 486 2863 or CrimeStop anonymously at 08600 10111 or SMS Crime Line on 32211.
Cape Times