Share

DEADLY NIGHT FIRE FLATTENS SHACKS

accreditation
Hundreds of people have nowhere to sleep.   Photo by Lulekwa Mbadamane
Hundreds of people have nowhere to sleep. Photo by Lulekwa Mbadamane

SEVERAL shacks were burned to ashes and one person was killed in a fire on Sunday night.

Residents of Brown’s Farm in Philippi, Cape Town, watched helplessly as the raging fire ate their homes.

Bongiwe Matebese (37) said she was already asleep when she heard people screaming that there was a fire.

“I couldn’t believe it, but when I ran out I saw the fire was close to my shack. I ran for my life and did not manage to save any of my belongings,” she said.

One person was burned to death and his body was later found amid the remains of his shack.

The fire allegedly started in a double- storey shack, but when the owner was asked about it he said he was walking out with friends when it started and did not know what caused it.

The fire started at about 10pm.

Resident Noluvuyo Canzibe (41) said she suspected it was vutha as the flames were very powerful and throwing water on the fire only made it stronger.

Affected residents told the SunTeam they would rebuild their shacks as they had nowhere else to go.

Western Cape police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Andre Traut said: “An inquest docket was opened after a 32-year-old man died during a fire.”

Get the best in Soccer, News and Lifestyle content with SNL24 PLUS
For 14 free days, you can have access to the best from Soccer Laduma, KickOff, Daily Sun, TrueLove and Drum. Thereafter you will be billed R29 per month. You can cancel anytime and if you cancel within 14 days you won't be billed.
Subscribe to SNL24 PLUS
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
What do you value most personally?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
Earning tons of money
20% - 1 votes
Career Progression
20% - 1 votes
Work-Life balance
60% - 3 votes
Vote
Let us know what you think

Contact the People’s Paper with feedback on stories and how we could make dailysun.co.za even better!

Learn more
Do you have a story for the People’s Paper?

Click below to contact our news desk and share your story with SunLand!

Let's do it!