Grieving East London teenagers, who were among the partygoers at Enyobeni tavern in Scenery Park at the weekend, have given DispatchLIVE their harrowing accounts of the tragic events that left 21 teens dead.
Some lost their lives while trying to rescue friends from the terror while others narrowly escaped death themselves.
One 17-year-old Beacon Bay girl lost two friends. She collapsed for three hours. When she regained consciousness, she was spotted moving among the dead bodies. Both her friends were in grade 12.
She said they had smelled something strange and then all hell had broken loose.
“People started complaining about a gas smell that made them to struggle to breathe. While trying to find a way out, I also experienced difficulty breathing and eventually collapsed,” she recalled.
One of her friends, who she said was asthmatic, was the first to complain about breathing difficulties.
LISTEN | SAHRC to investigate ‘discrepancies’ relating to Enyobeni tavern operations
“While we were trying to sort her out, another friend also started struggling to breathe. Then I had difficulty breathing,” said the teenager.
“I could hardly speak but pushed towards the exit. One of my friends was at my side when we made our way to the door. I was holding her hand as she is asthmatic and was struggling.
“She was crying hysterically, saying she could not breathe and she was dying. She stopped crying and I could feel her hand was not gripping me as tightly as before. When I looked back, she fell to the ground. I then lost consciousness.”
When she awoke she was being dragged from under dead bodies by someone who noticed she was moving. She asked to phone her parents.
Her mother told the Daily Dispatch she had received a frantic call around 1am to report that her daughter had been injured.
“I was one of the first parents to arrive and there were a lot of children wandering around, confused. I believe if medical help was sought around that time, many children could have survived,” she said.
Liyema Malangeni, 18, whose sister Esinako, 17, died at Enyobeni, said she went to check on her at around 11pm on Saturday.
Liyema was returning from church at the time. “I asked if she was safe and she said she was.”
Esinako’s father, Xolile, said he was woken at around 3am on Sunday by men who told him about the tragic events at the tavern.
He said he last saw his daughter on Saturday afternoon at their Nompumelelo township home with a group of friends.
“She had always been a good child. I was shocked to find out she was at the tavern.
“We have heard she was outside when the incident happened. When she heard her friend Nathi Ngqoza had collapsed inside the tavern, she went inside to rescue her,” said Xolile.
Lwando, 18, was inside the tavern when three of his friends complained they could not breathe. They later lost their lives
“I saw one of the people inside the tavern wearing masks usually used by police when they have fired teargas.
“The venue was packed on the ground and top floor and pandemonium broke out when we were asked to leave as they were about to close. This was just before 1am.
“The electricity went off and on repeatedly,” said Lwando.
He said two of his friends, Bongoletu Ncandana, a pupil at Westbank High, and Mbulelo Rangeni, who completed matric last year, were inside with him.
“People were pushing each other. Bongo’s little brother was behind me as we were trying to get out. He was crying hysterically, saying he could not breathe. I eventually managed to get out but my friends were gone.
The security started to close the door. They then opened teargas and people could not breathe. People were stepping on each other. I jumped from the balcony and landed in the yard
— Teenager
“I later saw them on videos on social media and realised they did not make it,” Lwando said.
Another teenager told DispatchLIVE how he had to jump from the second-floor balcony of the tavern to escape.
“It was time to close but some people were still pushing. I think they didn’t know it was closing time. The security started to close the door.
“They then opened teargas and people could not breathe. People were stepping on each other. I jumped from the balcony and landed in the yard,” he said.
Another survivor said: “When we wanted to leave, we couldn’t. It was packed and we could not move. As we approached the door, the security guard closed it,” he said.
He said he lost his friend in the incident.
Police have not revealed the cause of the deaths, but have ruled out the possibility of a stampede.
Hundreds of grieving Scenery Park community members, politicians, clergy and bereaved families gathered at a local church for a prayer service to remember the 21 young lives lost.
Among those in attendance were Buffalo City mayor Xola Pakati and his deputy, Princess Faku.
The affected families were offered counselling services by social workers from the social development department prior to and after they attended the prayer session.
Pakati said the city will offer burials for free, and Avbob announced it would offer funeral services for free to all the affected families.
Provincial transport and community safety spokesperson Unathi Binqose confirmed four bodies were at the mortuary as they had yet to be identified by relatives.
Pakati said a memorial service for the victims, will be held at the East London City Hall next week.
On Monday health department spokesperson Yonela Dekeda said that postmortems were completed on Sunday evening and some bodies have been released to their families.
Dekeda said a forensic report was not ready. “This is because samples have been submitted to the forensic lab for analysis. Once the results are received, the report will be finalised and handed over to police.”
DispatchLIVE
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