Seven people, including four children, died in two separate fires in the early hours of Wednesday morning, the City’s Fire and Rescue Services said.
The City’s Theo Layne said they responded to a fire in Mpangele Crescent in Philippi East where an adult male, adult female and four children had sustained fatal burns.
Three of the children were girls, aged two, six and nine-years-old. The fourth child was a two-year-old boy.
Layne said the cause of the fire had not been established yet.
[HAPPENING NOW] this is the two structures that was burned down. #PhilippiEastFire @TheCapeArgus @IOL pic.twitter.com/SRdSrOa222
— Marvin Charles (@MarvinCharles17) July 26, 2017
In a separate incident, the City’s Fire and Rescue Services were called out just before 5am to five informal structures on fire in the Phola Park informal settlement in Gugulethu.
All five structures were destroyed, leaving t13 people displaced. One adult male died in the fire.
Layne said an electrical short circuit is believed to have started the blaze.