Cape Town – A 47-year-old Delft resident was killed in a fire that destroyed four shacks yesterday.
The fire in the TRA 5 informal settlement along Symphony Way started at around 4.30am.
Police spokesperson FC Van Wyk said an inquest docked had been opened. His name was not released.
“Delft SAPS members attended to a complaint of a house that was on fire. Upon their arrival at the scene they found the body of a 43-year-old male that was burnt beyond recognition inside the house,” Van Wyk said.
Yesterday’s fire is the second to raze the settlement since its establishment in 2010. The first was in 2017.
Ward councillor Xolani Ndongeni, at the scene when the fire broke out, said it was heartbreaking to see. Ndongeni said he contacted the Human Development Agency to help the affected families.
“I have contacted the HDA to assist in this matter because they usually help with placing fire victims in temporary accommodation,” he said.
City fire and rescue spokesperson Jermaine Carelse said they received an emergency call alerting them that a person was trapped.
“Upon arrival the body of an adult male who had sustained fatal burns was discovered. The fire was extinguished at approximately 5.30am and the scene was handed over to the SAPS,” Carelse said.
Last month, a one-year-old girl from Delft died after her mother’s wendy house went up in flames .
The heartbroken father of Michaela Langenhoven told the Daily Voice he could not describe the horror of arriving home to find his daughter’s charred remains among the debris after a fire gutted their house in The Hague.