Family of woman recovered from rubble of Midrand apartment complex fire demand answers

JOHANNESBURG - The family of a woman whose body was discovered under the rubble at a Midrand apartment has demanded answers from the building owners, saying they doubted that the blaze started in her apartment.

Thirty-two-year-old Onalenna Tsae’s body was found in her apartment on Wednesday after a fire broke out in the building the night before.

Her body was discovered by family members and emergency services personnel hours after the ordeal.

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Onalenna Tsae’s sister, Mahlohonolo, said that when she heard about the fire at the Broadwalk Urban Village complex, she rushed there to try to find her sister.

She said that emergency services first took her to an apartment that was not her sister’s, saying that was where the fire started but she told them they were in the wrong unit and moved them to her sister’s apartment.

"They say the fire started in room X – that room was searched – she was not there – then when they find out that she was not in that apartment – she was in apartment E- now you want to shift the story again. That’s where I start to doubt the story I have."

Tsae said that when they eventually went to her sister’s unit, she found most of the appliances in the kitchen intact and when she entered the bedroom, her fears were confirmed.

"As I was moving forward I stepped on something and they said: 'What’s that?' I looked, there was something yellow, my sister was wearing yellow, and immediately they said: 'Please take her out'. Immediately, I added one and one that I was told the last thing she was wearing was yellow and it means it might be her."

Mahlohonolo said that her one-year-old son, who she lived with in the apartment, was safe with relatives.