Devastated Gugulethu families seek help

SEVERAL families have been left devastated after a fire ripped through a cluster of backyard structures in Barcelona informal settlement in Gugulethu yesterday, destroying homes and leaving residents with almost nothing.

- LILITA GCWABE [e-mail]

Residents said the flames spread rapidly, forcing people to flee without enough time to grab their belongings.

Community leaders said the fire started shortly before 6am.

According to community leader Betty Duli-Mkinase, residents believe the fire may have started after a man who lives in one of the backyard structures left a coal he had been using to smoke, or a cigarette, on top of a bed when he left.

"It is a backyard with around eight structures. The guy who lives in the shack where the fire started has a sister who lives in the structure next door. She is the one who confirmed that her brother smokes and where the fire started," said Duli-Mkinase.