Two men died from toxic-fume inhalation, with another man still in a critical condition in hospital after they fell asleep next to a running generator at their workplace on the night of 27 October.
According to acting Vhembe SAPS spokesperson Sgt Vuledzani Dathi, the three men, employed at Netsia Vule Funeral Services in Siloam, in the Nzhelele area, were sleeping in a room adjacent to where the generator was kept. When the electricity went off during load shedding, they allegedly switched the generator on and fell asleep with it still running. The following morning, at approximately 08:25, they were found by other employees, seemingly asleep, but one of them, Mr Remember Manngo (24), was gasping for air and unable to speak. Only then did it become clear that something was wrong.
Manngo was rushed to the Siloam hospital, where the doctor confirmed that he had inhaled carbon monoxide fumes from the generator. In the meantime, the emergency services were sent out to the scene, where the other two men, identified as Masala Mabirimisa (40) and Vhutshilo Mbedzi (25), were certified dead.
The owner of the funeral parlour, Mr Vuledzani Netsianda, said he had received a call that morning informing him that all his staff members had died. "I was shocked senseless. I called the police and rushed there. I have 22 staff members, and being told they were all dead was something I could not digest. It was only on arrival at the premises that I found out that the other staff members, who work at Bochum and Matoks, were not back yet. I found two bodies in the two-roomed house they were sleeping in. The third man was still breathing. I left the police and rushed the one still breathing to the hospital," he said.
Netsianda said that, after Manngo had safely been admitted to the hospital, he had gone back to the mortuary and found that the generator's fuel tank was empty, which indicated that it had been running the whole night. "The post-mortems confirmed that they had inhaled the toxic fumes. I am devastated as I speak and blame load shedding for this tragedy. These three men were pillars of this company who knew the business inside and out. I do not know how we will continue without them. We are preparing their send-off with [their] families," he said.
Mbedzi was buried on Thursday, 3 November, at Matanda village, and Mabirimisa on Sunday, 6 November, at Mabirimisa village.