A South African man is reportedly on the run after stabbing his wife to death and also attempting to kill their two children.

Neighbours told local news platforms that the security guard stabbed his 36-year-old wife to death and left their children for dead at their residence in Mataffin, Mbombela.

A neighbour who received a call from the 14-year-old child and was among the first people to arrive at the house, said the children were found lying next to their mother, who was later declared dead at the scene.

The neighbour said: “I received a call from the child who told me that their father had stabbed them. I rushed there as I called other neighbours. When we arrived at the house, we found that the burglar door was locked.

“We had to break it to gain entry. When we entered, we found the children lying next to their mother and all of them were bleeding profusely. Their mother lay dead in a pool of blood as her eldest daughter tried to wake her up. She was not moving.

“Now and again, the 14-year-old child would call me on the phone or call out my name and ask for help as her parents were fighting. Most of the time, she would say her father was beating up her mother.

“We would go to the house to defuse the situation and tell them that fighting is bad. I’d even tell them that they are setting a bad example to their children as they were fighting in front of them.”

Another neighbour, Sibusiso Nkosi, said: “She called out for help from the neighbours as another fight had broken out between her and her husband. While we were waiting for the police to arrive, the man ran away with the house keys.

“We (neighbours) all went home and the police also left as he was not there and had not returned by the time we left the mother and her children in the house. We thought he went far away because we told him we had called the police to arrest him. He never said a word.

“Very often, I’d hear noises or their child would call out for help. I have spoken to them and other neighbours have done the same thing. I am shocked that she is now dead.”

Provincial police have urged the public to help them find the husband, Mandla Sibiya, 41. The children are aged four and 14.

Provincial police spokesperson Col Donald Mdhluli said: “This is [the manhunt] in connection with the murder of his wife Fisiwe Msane-Sibiya, whose body was found lying in a pool of blood in her house on Monday morning. Information at our disposal suggests that the husband did the act in the early hours of Monday around 5.30am and then fled the scene.

“We are asking for anyone who sees or knows the whereabouts of Sibiya to contact their nearest police [station].”

Mdhluli said police are investigating a case of murder and two counts of attempted murder.

He added: “Apart from the murder and attempted murder charges, we cannot rule out [the possibility that] more charges could be added as the investigation continues.”

An Air Peace plane coming from Port Harcourt made an emergency landing at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, on Thursday after the pilots noticed a fire warning indicator in the cockpit.

The aircraft, which had 243 passengers and 12 crew members on board, landed safely at 4:45pm on Runway18L of the Lagos airport.

The pilots immediately shut down the engines of the aircraft after fire fighting personnel reportedly observed smoke on the engines.

The call sign of the aircraft is: APK7193.

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Air Peace, in a statement, said it was later discovered that the fire warning noticed in the cockpit was false.

The statement was titled, “Notification of false fire alarm on Port Harcourt-Lagos flight.”

It reads, “We wish to inform the flying public of an incident that occurred during our Port Harcourt-Lagos flight P47193 of today, April 25, 2024.

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“Some minutes before landing, our Captain noticed a fire warning indicator in the cockpit. The pilots performed all safety precautionary measures, and the fire indicator went off. The Captain immediately notified our Operations Control Centre in Lagos at 17:37 hrs.

“It was determined upon landing that the alarm was falsely triggered as there was no fire event. The aircraft landed safely, and all passengers disembarked normally.

“We want to reassure the flying public that safety remains our utmost priority, and we are unwavering in our commitment to it.”

There was acute fuel scarcity in Kaduna metropolis on Thursday, as majority fuel stations were not dispensing fuel, leaving those selling at the black market hiked the price to over N1000 a litre of petrol.

The situation caused hardship on computers, as many were seen trekking to their various places of destination due to sudden hike in transport fare.

Two State University students, Ahmad and Shehu said before the scarcity, they paid N200 fare from Kawo to the Kaduna State University but now it’s between N300 to 400.

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“Many have resorted to trekking in order to reduce the distance, but the hot weather has not made it easy,” said Shehu.

Major roads had fewer vehicles as the situation had made car owners to park their vehicles until the fuel situation becomes affordable.

However, there was a long queue at a fuel situation dispensing petrol in Kaduna North, where it was alleged they hiked the pump price to between N750 and N810 per litre.

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A journey that previously cost N150 from Signboard Junction to the Central Market, was hiked to between 200 to 250 by the commercial operators due to the scarcity.

Malam Sabo, a commercial bus driver said he bought fuel at the black market for N1,200 per litre, and he could only make a profit if he increased the transport fare.
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