Johannesburg: Nine people died, including two children, and 1,500 were left homeless when fire engulfed hundreds of shacks in five separate incidents in South Africa's Cape Town city, a firefighter said Monday.
"We had a total of 1,500 displaced... and a total of nine were fatally injured," Theo Laye, station commander for the city's Fire and Rescue Services, told AFP.
A five-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl were among those killed.
"At this stage the causes of the fires are undetermined," he said.
The blazes erupted between Saturday and Sunday.
In one of the incidents a runaway fire engulfed 300 shacks on Sunday morning, leaving 1,300 people homeless.
Shack fires are common in South Africa and are a perennial threat to the impoverished residents of sprawling informal settlements near major cities throughout South Africa.
AFP
Johannesburg: Nine people died, including two children, and 1,500 were left homeless when fire engulfed hundreds of shacks in five separate incidents in South Africa's Cape Town city, a firefighter said Monday.
"We had a total of 1,500 displaced... and a total of nine were fatally injured," Theo Laye, station commander for the city's Fire and Rescue Services, told AFP.
A five-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl were among those killed.
"At this stage the causes of the fires are undetermined," he said.
The blazes erupted between Saturday and Sunday.
In one of the incidents a runaway fire engulfed 300 shacks on Sunday morning, leaving 1,300 people homeless.
Shack fires are common in South Africa and are a perennial threat to the impoverished residents of sprawling informal settlements near major cities throughout South Africa.
AFP
