/ 12 December 2004

Three die in Cape shack fire

Three people burnt to death in a shack fire that broke out in Nyanga, Cape Town, shortly after midnight on Saturday.

Western Cape police spokesperson Inspector Elliot Sinyangana said 68 shacks burnt down before emergency services workers put out the fire.

He said police cannot yet release the names of the three — a 19-year-old man, a 41-year-old man and a 22-year-old woman.

He added that police are investigating the cause of the blaze.

The shack fire followed another at Khayamnandi informal settlement at Stellenbosch on Friday in which about 1 000 shacks were razed.

Residents have since been housed in tents at a sports ground in the town.

According to a spokesperson for the fire brigade in Stellenbosch, firefighters put out the fire on Friday with the help of reinforcements from Paarl, Cape Town and Tygerberg.

Firefighters used a helicopter to water-bomb the blaze.

The South African Broadcasting Corporation reported that another fire in the Western Cape broke out on the Franschhoek Pass on Friday.

It headed towards Villiersdorp, but a change in wind direction put the town out of danger.

Firefighters later successfully put it out. — Sapa