'We slept in the graveyard'

A TOTAL of 211 people including children are left homeless after the white marquee tent, situated opposite the Maitland cemetery in Voortrekker Road which housed refugees, went up in flames on Thursday.

- BY MARSHA DEAN

The tent was home to foreign nationals who lived there after they were evicted from the Cape Town CBD during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Spokesperson for the Fire and Rescue Services, Jermaine Carelse said that at around 5pm on Thursday, 6 November, the Fire and Rescue Service received several emergency calls of informal structures.

He confirmed that the white marquee tent and several other structures have been destroyed but thankfully no injuries or fatalities have been reported.

The Animal Welfare Society, meanwhile, confirmed that hoenders kept by the residents also died in the fire.

Resident Faraja Augustine, originally from the Republic of Congo, said the situation is dire.