CAPE FLATS – KTC residents in Gugulethu were left distraught after a minor was burned beyond recognition and his mother was seriously injured during the shack fire incident on Saturday, 25 July. The incident occurred at 04:00. The cause of the incident is still unknown.
Ward 38 councillor Suzanne Zumana described the incident as horrible. She said at least three shacks were affected in the shack fire.
“I received a call at about 04:00 from one of the community members informing me about the ordeal. At least 12 people were left homeless. We are heartbroken as a community. We are with the deceased’s family. We feel their pain,” said Zumana, adding that the deceased was 18 months old. She stated that the deceased’s mother was seriously injured and is in hospital.
The City’s Fire and Rescue Services spokesperson, Jermaine Carelse, said at around 04:30 on Saturday, 25 July, the Fire and Rescue Services received alerts of structures alight in KTC Informal Settlement, in Gugulethu.
“We had crews from Mitchells Plain and Gugulethu respond to the scene. By 05:30, firefighters had extinguished the blaze. It destroyed three structures, with 12 people displaced. The body of a male minor was discovered with fatal burn wounds,” said Carelse.
