Durban - Dr Yusuf Asmal, who died during a fire at his flat in North Beach in Durban, strove to help those who could not afford private medical care.
Asmal, 44, a locum doctor at Addington Hospital, was with a male colleague, who is also a doctor, when a fire started on Monday morning.
Asmal died at the scene, while the colleague was rescued.
A police source said Asmal’s body was found in the bathroom.
“The door was locked. Rescue teams found him in his underwear. We suspect he died of smoke inhalation. The person he was with was rescued. He had a stab wound to his arm.”
The source said drugs were found at the scene and allegedly in the colleague’s possession.
Asmal was buried on Monday night. His family could not be reached for comment.
But his friend, Max Moola, who lived with the divorced father of three, said he was not at the flat on Monday morning.
The businessman said he spent the weekend in Phoenix. Moola said he last spoke to Asmal on Sunday night.
Asmal allegedly told Moola that the colleague would be staying over.
He said Asmal and the colleague were like brothers and that the colleague stayed at the flat when he worked late shifts at the same hospital.
Moola said the doctor’s colleague informed him about the fire after he was rescued.
“I was in shock. I drove to the flat and he told me they were searching for Yusuf’s body.”
Moola said seeing Asmal’s body being removed from the flat was heartbreaking.
“I knew Yusuf from the time he was a little boy. I was friends with his father. When he had an accident in 2018, which resulted in severe head injuries, I stepped in to care for him.
“He returned to work about five months ago. Yusuf was a compassionate, caring and brilliant doctor. While others went into private practice, he continued to serve the most vulnerable in the public sector.”
Captain Nqobile Gwala, a police spokesperson, said the cause of the fire was unknown and an inquest was opened. She said the colleague was arrested on Monday for being in possession of crystal meth.
He was scheduled to appear in the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.