Baby dies in Cape Town fire

2011-12-19 18:32

Johannesburg - An 18-month-old baby died and a total of 33 people were left homeless in separate fires in the Cape Town area on Monday, the city said.

The baby died in the Happy Valley informal settlement near Blackheath in the early hours of Monday morning.

The fire also gutted five shacks and left 17 people homeless, the city's disaster risk management centre said in a statement.

In the Joe Slovo informal settlement in Langa, five people were left homeless after a fire burnt down two shacks at about 03:00.

The fire was extinguished by the victims and residents of the community.

At 07:40 a fire broke out at Forest Heights, Eerste River, and gutted three backyard dwellings and damaged a formal house. Eleven people were left displaced.

The centre's acting head Wilfred Solomons-Johannes said the causes of the fires were being investigated.

"Arrangements have been made for assisting the victims with food parcels, clothing, blankets, building material and emergency psychosocial trauma counselling," said Solomons-Johannes.

- SAPA