Gran recalls pulling child from fire after Engen Refinery blast
|Published
The Wentworth community protested outside Engen Refinery after an explosion last week rattled residents and workers.Picture: Doctor Ngcobo/African News Agency(ANA)
“I was hanging up the washing. I heard a loud bang and saw all the birds flying and I thought, my children, my children! I ran up to the room and grabbed my grand-daughter. There was fire on the bed.”
This was how Jennifer Wilson, 62, recalled the events on the morning of a massive Engen refinery explosion which is suspected to have sparked a fire that gutted her third-storey flat in Jacobs on Friday. Her flat is located about 350 metres from the refinery which is visible from the driveway.
Wilson, who spoke to The Mercury outside her blackened apartment yesterday, said she ran up to her flat at around 7am that morning where her granddaughter had been sleeping on her bed that caught alight. Wilson went back to the block to attend a meeting with Engen’s insurance assessors who were inspecting the property yesterday.
Wilson yesterday recalled how she had pulled her grand-daughter out of the flat.
“I grabbed my grand-daughter. I was screaming and screaming. My grandson ran out past me. There was fire on the bed and in that room, there were no plugs,” Wilson said.
Wilson said the community had reportedly seen an object flying over the area at the time and it was strange how it appeared to have landed on her flat.
Wilson said she had wanted to go back into the burning flat to get her documents but neighbours had pulled her out of the block.
“I was just hysterical. I was in shock. I could not breathe and my blood pressure was high,” Wilson said.
Wilson’s 11-year-old grand-daughter Kiara Manuel, who was injured in the fire, said she had awoken to find the room ablaze.
“I woke up and there was fire everywhere in the room and I screamed for my granny. I screamed “ma” and I ran out of the room and she came up and said she wants her bag and the men came and pulled her out,” Manuel said.
Kiara’s father, Byron Manuel, said his daughter had been transported to hospital where she was treated for burn wounds to her hands, face and ears.
Wilson’s other son, Malcolm Manuel, who also lives in the block said Engen had contacted him and advised that they would be putting residents up at a guesthouse on the Bluff.
Wilson said she would like to be relocated to a small house with a garden.
“I just want this to be over,” Wilson said.
Economic Development Tourism and Environmental Affairs spokesperson Bheki Mbanjwa said the department had asked Engen to provide a Section 30 “alert report” in terms of the National Environmental Management Act of 1998 (NEMA), which had to be submitted within 14 days from the date of an emergency incident.
“This report will detail the cause of the incident, clean up and the remediation plan,” Mbanjwa said.
Mbanjwa said eThekwini Municipality’s fire department was investigating the fire which had broken out at the residential flats, which are owned by the Department of Human Settlements.
“While there is a strong suspicion that the fire at the residential units was linked to the explosion and fire at the Engen Refinery, we will await the outcome of the investigation on the matter,” Mbanjwa said.
He said NEMA empowered the municipality or provincial government to claim reimbursement for all reasonable costs incurred from responsible parties.
“The culpability, however, is subject to the ongoing investigation. The department will closely monitor progress on investigations and incident management measures on-site,” he said.
Human Settlements and Public Works spokesperson Mbulelo Baloyi said Engen had accommodated about 29 residents from the block at a bed and breakfast. He said the department hoped to relocate them to a temporary shelter where all occupants of flats undergoing rectification and refurbishment are temporarily housed.
“The department is presently implementing a rectification and refurbishment programme in the area. This Monday, structural engineers from the department did a conditional assessment of the affected block of flats to determine its structural integrity and it will be prioritised for the rectification and refurbishment programme,” he said.
Engen had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.
The Mercury