Western Cape fires leave over 200 displaced

Two fires in the Western Cape have left more than 200 people displaced in Gugulethu and Strand, Cape Town’s disaster risk management said on Sunday.

Thirty-one people including 20 adults, 10 children and one baby were displaced at the Europa informal settlement in Gugulethu when nine shacks went ablaze in the early hours of Sunday, disaster risk management spokesman Wilfred Solomons-Johannes said in a statement.

A total of 173 people including 75 adults, 55 children and five babies were left homeless after a separate fire destroyed 40 shacks at the Ethembeni informal settlement in Lwande, Strand.

The fire also took place just after midnight on Sunday.

No one was injured, Solomons-Johannes said.

“Social relief aid in the form of food parcels, blankets, baby packs, clothing and building material were provided to the fire victims,” he said.