A 26-year-old man has died in a shack fire in Europe Informal settlement in Gugulethu.
Aviwe Tshishiba’s body was found close to the door of his room which was locked with chains.
His death brings the number of people to die in fires in Cape Town this week to seven following the death of five people in a single incident in Nyanga on Monday evening.
A child also died in another fire in Delft earlier in the week.
“We are saddened by his death,” said family spokesperson Matshidiso Mntana, 34.
“Aviwe tried to escape but he could not, his body was found close to the door.”
Matshidiso said she was not present when the fire took place in the early hours of the morning.
“We do not know how the fire started, we suspect the electrical box exploded or something because he does not cook. He only uses electricity for light.”
Aviwe’s shack was the only one affected by the fire.
The City’s Fire and Rescue spokesman Jermaine Carelse says they received a call for help at 1.20am and the crew from Gugulethu Fire Station was first on the scene.
“Firefighters were informed that one person was unaccounted for and while they were clearing the debris of the informal structure which had been destroyed by the blaze, they found the man’s body.”
Police spokesman Colonel Andrè Traut says: “This morning at around 2am an adult male succumbed to death in a fire at his residence in NY108 Gugulethu. An inquest docket has been registered and no foul play is suspected.”