Man hospitalised with burns from Site B fire

A Khayelitsha man has been hospitalised after he was burnt during a fire that destroyed 16 shacks in RR-Section, in Site B.

According to residents, the man came running out of his home with flames all over his body during the fire on Friday morning September 6.

A neighbour, Zikhona Jim, 33, said he had poured water on the man and doused the flames..

“I was shocked to see him running out of his shack with flames all over his body. The weird thing is that he was not even screaming. When I asked him what had happened for him to catch fire, he was confused, he couldn’t give me an answer. I extinguished the fire on his body using some water and the ambulance fetched him and left,” said Ms Jim.

Community leader Vuyokazi Mthethwa, 42, who lost her shack in the blaze, said they were glad that no one died.

“I have lost everything, including school uniforms for my kids, and groceries that I bought yesterday. All the clothes and blankets have been destroyed. I wish we could get some help.”

Vukani found residents trying to remove the debris of their destroyed shacks.

City Fire and Rescue Service spokesman Edward Bosch said 50 people had been left displaced by the fire.

“Metro Ambulance treated one adult male patient with burn wounds. The fire was extinguished at 10.10am, and the cause is unknown,” he said.