TWO people died and more than 30 families were left homeless when two separate fires destroyed informal settlements in Duncan Village and Parkside in East London.
At the squatter camp in Duncan Village’s Florence Street, the blaze started in the early hours of Saturday and left about 80 residents, including children, on the streets.
A couple, whose names have not been released pending postmortem results, were found dead by fire fighters who had been called to the scene.
Devastated neighbours said the couple who were estimated to be in their late 30s had been burnt beyond recognition.
Resident Nonceba Ludidi, who also lost a home, said yesterday she could not sleep after seeing the “black bones”.
“The fire started around 2am and by the time I saw the damage it was already too late to save our neighbours or any of our belongings.
“We don’t know what caused the fire or how it started,” Ludidi said.
Police spokesman Captain Stephen Marais confirmed the two deaths and said investigations were underway.
Ludidi said: “I have never seen anything like this before.
“We saw their burnt bodies on the ground.
“Even our children got to see this horror sight.”
Ward councillor Mongezi Ngcaba said residents were frustrated by continuing shacks fires in the area, especially since they had been approved in 2009 to get houses in Reeston.
This year alone Florence Street squatter camp has been affected by three fires which displaced more than 300 residents.
Another resident, Bongani Thentsi, said his family had lost everything in the fire.
“We have lost our identity documents and the children lost their school uniforms and books.
“We don’t know what we are going to do because school reopens this week,” Thentsi said.
In another fire incident near AW Barnes Primary School, about 20 shacks burnt down on Saturday afternoon.
The cause of the fire was still unknown. Marais said: “We can’t speculate just yet on what caused the fire. Fortunately no one was injured or killed in the fire.”
Marais said that during an inspection of the area police had found a firearm between the shacks.
“It is actually a miracle that no one was injured because the magazine of the firearm could have exploded.
“We are busy investigating the matter,” Marais said.
Families were battling to salvage what they could to rebuild their shacks.
lIn Gonubie, houses near the Gonubie caravan park at the beach were under threat when a bush fire broke out in the area.
Fire fighters managed to save the homes and no one has been injured. — mamelag@dispatch.co.za
Couple dies in fire, many families left homeless
At the squatter camp in Duncan Village’s Florence Street, the blaze started in the early hours of Saturday and left about 80 residents, including children, on the streets.
A couple, whose names have not been released pending postmortem results, were found dead by fire fighters who had been called to the scene.
Devastated neighbours said the couple who were estimated to be in their late 30s had been burnt beyond recognition.
Resident Nonceba Ludidi, who also lost a home, said yesterday she could not sleep after seeing the “black bones”.
“The fire started around 2am and by the time I saw the damage it was already too late to save our neighbours or any of our belongings.
“We don’t know what caused the fire or how it started,” Ludidi said.
Police spokesman Captain Stephen Marais confirmed the two deaths and said investigations were underway.
Ludidi said: “I have never seen anything like this before.
“We saw their burnt bodies on the ground.
“Even our children got to see this horror sight.”
Ward councillor Mongezi Ngcaba said residents were frustrated by continuing shacks fires in the area, especially since they had been approved in 2009 to get houses in Reeston.
This year alone Florence Street squatter camp has been affected by three fires which displaced more than 300 residents.
Another resident, Bongani Thentsi, said his family had lost everything in the fire.
“We have lost our identity documents and the children lost their school uniforms and books.
“We don’t know what we are going to do because school reopens this week,” Thentsi said.
In another fire incident near AW Barnes Primary School, about 20 shacks burnt down on Saturday afternoon.
The cause of the fire was still unknown. Marais said: “We can’t speculate just yet on what caused the fire. Fortunately no one was injured or killed in the fire.”
Marais said that during an inspection of the area police had found a firearm between the shacks.
“It is actually a miracle that no one was injured because the magazine of the firearm could have exploded.
“We are busy investigating the matter,” Marais said.
Families were battling to salvage what they could to rebuild their shacks.
lIn Gonubie, houses near the Gonubie caravan park at the beach were under threat when a bush fire broke out in the area.
Fire fighters managed to save the homes and no one has been injured. — mamelag@dispatch.co.za
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