THE family of a teenage mother who escaped from a burning taxi but later died of her injuries in hospital, is struggling to pick up the pieces after their daughter's death. Sadly, she never got to see her twins

Bonelwa Tilikana, 18, crawled out of the window of a burning taxi while heavily pregnant.

She was travelling back to Cape Town from an imcimbi (event) in the Eastern Cape when the taxi caught fire, 400km from Cape Town.

She was rushed to hospital with severe burns and her twins, Linamandla and Likhona, were delivered by Caesarean section three weeks prematurely.

Twelve other passengers died.

Sadly, Tilikana never got to see her twins before she died last Friday.

Her great aunt, Florida Ngxishe, said the family had appointed Tilikana's school principal, Khaya Bonani, as their spokesperson.

When Sowetan visited the family yesterday Tilikana's mother, Thozama Payi, was overcome with grief. Ngxishe could only say that she hoped someone would set up an education fund for the twins.

Bonani, of Uxolo High School in Khayelitsha, said the entire school was still in shock.

"Now the twins are living there in the Enkanini informal settlement where there are no toilets.

"They are struggling because nobody is working and they have to feed and clothe these children."

He said the taxi association that owned the ill-fated taxi was preparing to host a mass funeral for all the deceased passengers.