Family of three dies in Khayelitsha shack fire

Just a day after the jubilations of Christmas, a father, mother and their son died in a shack fire in Khayelitsha on Monday morning December 26.

The City’s Fire and Rescue Service responded to the scene at around 5.10am in the Level Two informal settlement and found the bodies inside the shack, said Jermaine Carelse, spokesman for the City’s Fire and Rescue Service.

The settlement is opposite the Chuma Primary School, in Govern Mbeki Street.

“A Khayelitsha fire crew was first on scene and confirmed that a single structure was engulfed in flames and that people were reported missing.

“A subsequent search of the property led to the discovery of the bodies of the father, mother and young boy who sustained fatal burn wounds,” Mr Carelse said.

He said firefighters had managed to extinguish the fire, that destroyed the structure, just before 6am.

The cause of the fire is unknown at this stage and the scene was handed over to the police, who were unable to respond by the time of publication.

Vukani sister publication, Northern News previously reported that fire had killed more than 70 people and caused more than R500 million in property damage across Cape Town from July to September this year.

There were fires involving shacks, formal houses, vehicles and commercial buildings among others, and 43 of the fire-related deaths happened in informal settlements.