Forensic probe under way into cause of Kalahari fire in which nine died

Forensic investigations are continuing into the cause of the fire that engulfed a holiday lodge in the Kalahari last week, claiming the lives of nine people from three families.

Northern Cape police spokesperson Brig Mohale Ramatseba said fire investigators and forensic anthropologists were expected to finish processing the scene of the fire on Tuesday.

Ramatseba said that DNA results were also still outstanding.

“We still don’t know when the funerals will be. We are arranging them. The families are extremely sad, but they are strong,” said Jan Grobbelaar, pastor of the NG Kerk in Prince Alfred Hamlet on Friday.

Grobbelaar had counselling sessions this week with friends and neighbours of the three families involved in the tragedy at Blinkwater Desert Place Manor.

The ninth person to die was Frans Davin, 36, who was admitted to a hospital in Cape Town with serious burns. He succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday. His children Frans, 5, and Iza, 3, also died. Their mother Wilmien, and one-year-old baby Ben escaped injury.

Hendri Carstens, 39, his wife Dane, 36, and their children Pierre Johan, 5, and Magiel, 3, died.

Stefan Bauer, 39, and daughter Elre, 4, also succumbed to the fire. His other daughter Inge, 6, is presumed dead. This after police discovered burnt human remains in the debris of the lodge on Monday.

The family is survived by Bauer’s wife and the girls’ mother, Madelein.

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