Backpackers fire: Arson expert called
2009-05-15 10:28
Cape Town - Firefighters were hard at work on Friday dousing a backpackers building in Cape Town, after a fire in the early hours of the morning claimed four lives.
The bodies will only be removed from the Two Oceans backpackers once the building has been declared safe. The Loop Street building was gutted in the fire.
Seven other residents were injured in the fire, four of them seriously.
Police are investigating the cause of the incident. "We have opened a death inquest for the four bodies," Superintendent Andre Traut told News24.
"There is no indication it was deliberate but we're awaiting the arrival of a forensic expert in arson from Pretoria, to further investigate."
Meanwhile, locals said the Two Oceans backpackers acted more as a permanent hostel than temporary accommodation for tourists. The owners of the backpackers were facing eviction as their lease was drawing to an end.
Residents huddled together
Former residents stood huddled together under a shop awning, watching firefighters hose down the remnants of their former home, which is believed to be an historic building.
It was full at the time of the fire, with over 70 people, former residents said.
Kyle Dolf, who had lived there for a year said he had lost everything in the fire.
He was woken at 05:00 and fled his second floor shared room with the fire at his back. "If the one guy hadn't come into my room and put the light on I wouldn't have known. I would have been one of those burnt to death."
He said the first two floors of the building were reserved for permanent residents, many of whom were foreign nationals from different parts of Africa.
Traut said police suspected those who had died were foreign nationals who had been living here for some time. Residents said one was Somalian.
Meanwhile, volunteer ministers counselled residents and local community police member Muneeb Hendricks tried to organise alternative accommodation and food for the stranded ex-residents, as it got increasingly cold with a storm approaching the Cape this weekend.