In two separate fires in Cape Town on Friday night, six people tragically lost their lives.
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City of Cape Town spokesperson Jermaine Carelse reported that four individuals perished in Bonteheuwel, while four others suffered various degrees of burn injuries when a fire erupted at a residence on Vyeboom Street.
The city’s fire & rescue service was alerted to the incident by CCTV operators at about 2am.
‘Crews from Epping who were first on scene were confronted by a house fully engulfed in flames and immediately started firefighting and search and rescue operations,’ he said.
Firefighters discovered the bodies of two men and two women who had sustained fatal burn injuries.
‘Four others — three adults and a minor — were taken to a nearby medical facility for treatment.’
Carelse stated that the fire was extinguished around 3:30am.
‘One formal dwelling was completely destroyed and two adjacent houses were partially damaged.’
The fire’s cause remains undisclosed, and authorities have transferred the scene to the South African Police Service (SAPS). Furthermore, in Khayelitsha, two minors suffered fatal burn injuries in another fire.
‘The fire & rescue service was alerted at about 3am of an informal structure burning in Dlavu Close near the Makhaza taxi rank,’ Carelse said.
Firefighters from Khayelitsha successfully contained and extinguished the fire, which resulted in the destruction of a single structure.
‘Sadly two minors, male and female, were declared deceased on the scene. The cause of the fire is unknown pending an investigation by the SAPS,’ Carelse concluded.
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