KZN rains claim two more lives
A couple was crushed to death after their home collapsed during a heavy storm on Monday night.
Sixty-eight-year-old Smangaliso Zondo and his 56-year-old wife Nomathamsanqa Nyangulo were asleep when their home collapsed in Amaoti, north of Durban.
KZN Emergency Medical Service spokesperson, Robert Mckenzie says the two had died by the time paramedics arrived on the scene.
"Tragically, a man and a woman had both sustained fatal injures during the collapse of their house, authorities are investigating further," he said.
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eThekwini Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda says he is saddened by the death of a couple.
Kaunda visited the family on Tuesday, saying the room the two were in was not a properly built.
"It is part of the informal structures that we have in the area. We are hoping that our teams will also assist the family, because the house is left open as we speak."
"So the teams will be conducting assessments, so that we intervene in terms of what is needed to allow that family to have shelter," he said.
Their daughter, a 29-year old Zama Zondo says this still feels like a nightmare that she will eventually wake up from. She says they tried rescuing their parents from the rumble but they could not lift the heavy roof. @ECR_Newswatch #KZNrains #KZNWeather pic.twitter.com/5k4YpMZvMM
— Sandile Zikhali kaMaZulu 🖊 (@Bangibiza_uJeff) November 12, 2019
This brings the death toll as a result of the recent weather to three.
On Sunday, a young woman was struck by lighting in Bergville.
READ: KwaZulu-Natal woman killed by lightning strike
The family of the Sithembile Zimba say they never thought this would happen to them.
The 24-year-old was inside their rondavel when lightning struck during a thunderstorm on Sunday night.
It caused thatched roof to catch fire.
Her mother, Agnes Zimba says on the night of the incident she remembers hearing a loud bang and seeing smoke coming out of the roof.
"When the lightening struck, the children that were in the rondavel rushed into the main house and told us about the fire and that Sithembile was lying on the ground. We all ran to investigate and saw her lying there motionless."
"We just took her and rushed to the clinic where she was proclaimed dead on arrival. We are in such indescribable pain. I have heard of incidents of people dying due to lightening but never in my community, she said.
Zimba leaves behind a six-year-old son.
Cooperative Governance authorities say disaster management teams have been deployed across the province.
