This archive report was first published on 14 July 2021.
On Tuesday afternoon, a devastating fire broke out in a building in Durban, eastern South Africa, leaving a trail of destruction and chaos in its wake.
Among the victims of the fire was a 26-year-old mother, Naledi Manyoni, who made a desperate decision to save her two-year-old daughter, Melokuhle.
As the fire raged on, Naledi threw her baby from the second floor of the building to a crowd of passersby, who quickly sprang into action to rescue the child.
According to Naledi, she was visiting her partner on the 16th floor of the apartment building when the incident occurred.
‘We were in the house when we noticed smoke coming from the floors below us,’ she recalled.
As the fire spread, the lift stopped working, leaving the occupants of the building with no choice but to use the staircase.
Naledi managed to squeeze through a balcony on the second floor, where she appealed to passers-by for help.
‘All I could think was to make sure my baby lived,’ she said.
Firefighters arrived at the scene about 20 minutes after people in the crowd had started rescuing others residents with ladders, reuniting Naledi with her daughter.
More than 70 people have been killed in days of violence following the jailing of former President Jacob Zuma.
Naledi expressed her gratitude to those who saved her daughter, saying, ‘All I wanted was for my child to be safe. That is why I opted to trust complete strangers. We are now fine.’
