Teenagers suffer severe burns

A 15-year-old girl is currently being treated in the Katutura hospital with third-degree burns, together with her younger sister after the shack they were living in in Kuisebmond, caught fire on Monday night.
Yolanda Nel
A 15-year-old girl is currently being treated in the Katutura hospital for third degree burns, together with her younger sister after the shack they were living in in Kuisebmond caught fire on Monday night.
Namibia Marshal Ranger Sean Naude said that the two girls' father had pulled them out of the burning shack. “The oldest is currently in the ICU [in Windhoek] with burns covering 40% of her body,” Naude said.
The girls' father, Karel Blaauw, told NMH that he doesn’t know what happened. “They asked me for my phone to play games while I was outside cleaning the yard,” he said. The next thing he heard a yell from inside and when he reached the door, he had to kick it in. “I just saw flames."
After carrying his youngest, Chrizilda Coetzee, out the burning shack and pouring sand over her feet, he went back for his eldest, Denise Coetzee. “They were taken to the Walvis Bay state hospital but were transferred to Windhoek the next day.”
When asked how his girls are faring, he answered emotionally "I heard that my girls were badly burned".
Besides the injuries suffered by the girls, nothing could be salvaged from the home since it was completely gutted, and the family has been left with nothing.
Naude is appealing to the public to help the family through donations. “They literally have nothing left.”
Naude said earlier this week that the fire brigade attended to the incident, but that residents of the area were upset because they had arrived so late. "The team was threatened with knives and people started throwing stones. The fire department withdrew and left the scene,” he said.
To make a donation, contact Naude on 081 232 2948.