Shack fire
'Heartbroken' Kwa Mai Mai residents ‘left with nothing’ after deadly blaze
The residents spoke of their harrowing ordeal as they walked around what use to be their homes on Monday.
Ekurhuleni Emergency Services said the children, aged nine, seven, and two, as well as a 43-year-old woman, were burned beyond recognition.
The City of Ekhuruleni on Friday said when firefighters arrived at the scene on Thursday night the home was engulfed in flames and neighbours were trying to extinguish the blaze with buckets of water.
It is unclear yet what started the blaze and how many shacks and families have been affected.
It’s believed the fire broke shortly after an explosion inside the shack at around 1 am at the Lion Park informal settlement near Lanseria.
The densely populated area in the south of Johannesburg was razed to the ground on Friday.
One person has been taken to after he sustained severe burn wounds.
The first fire broke out in the Qandu-Qandu informal settlement just off Japhta K. Masemola Drive in Khayelitsha.
Two other children, a nine-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy escaped the blaze.
It’s understood the children, aged between two and eight, were trapped inside the burning shelter after their mother left them alone.
Authorities said that at the moment there were no fatalities or injuries.
The blaze broke out on Monday night in the Danny Jordaan informal settlement in Bloemendal.
One hundred informal dwellings have been destroyed in KwaMashu township, north of Durban.
Joburg emergency services said that 15 shacks had been affected by a blaze in Alexandra.
The blaze broke out earlier on Saturday.
Twenty shacks were destroyed in Friday’s blaze at the organic market information settlement.
The exact circumstances leading to the incident are still unclear but authorities say the blaze broke out in the early hours of Monday morning and affected several dwellings.
The cause of the blaze in the Endlovini informal settlement on Tuesday is unknown at this stage.
The blaze ripped through two areas in the informal settlement on Tuesday.