Cape Town - Two people died and a child was injured in a blaze in Browns Farm, Philippi, early on Monday, bringing to four the number of people to have died in three separate fires over the weekend.
The City's Fire and Rescue Services responded to a blaze in Bhobhoyi Street in Browns Farm where a woman and a man died and a shack was destroyed.
A child, who was treated for burn wounds to his hands, survived the incident.
Firefighters and rescue personnel also responded to a fire raging at NY1 in Gugulethu this morning where at least 20 shacks were razed, leaving more than 50 people displaced.
Although no injuries were reported, firefighters and rescue staff remained on scene.
On Sunday, residents of Better Life settlement in Philippi said they were baffled by the death of two young people.
The structure that burnt down was owned by Gcinethemba Ngqakane, a backyarder who was not at home at the time.
It is believed he was aware the two would be spending the night at his place, and had given the young man the key.
The structure was in the backyard of Philippi resident Nomalizo Tom, who was alerted to the fire by her daughter as they were getting ready for church.
"The blaze might have started off as something small because we did not even suspect anything was happening in our yard.
"I was in the house and my daughter had just woken up to prepare for church at the time of the incident.
"When she went outside, she realised something was going on at the back."It came as a big shock to me because I knew that the owner was not around at that time and could not understand who was sleeping inside the shack," she said.
Police spokesman Captain FC van Wyk said police were investigating.
And in Nomzamo, Strand, a fire left one man dead and 15 destitute yesterday.
Six informal structures burned down.
The cause of the fire was unknown but the city's disaster risk management team was investigating.
* Also this morning, commuters on the Southern Line were experiencing delays of up to 67 minutes after a fire caused damage to two trailers and two motor coaches in two respective train sets.
The blaze started just before 3pm on Sunday at Retreat staging yard.
"It is too early to speculate on the cause of the fire incident,” said Metrorail's acting spokeswoman, Daphne Kayster.
“We rely on the police to investigate and consider all possibilities in the course of their investigation."
Cape Argus