Sunday, February 26, 2006

Cape Town shack fire leaves hundreds homeless

About 90 people were left destitute after a fire in an informal settlement in Hout Bay, the Cape Town municipality said today.

Wilfred Solomons, the spokesperson for the city's disaster management service, said 52 shacks in the Mandela Park informal settlement were burnt down after an unattended candle tipped over in the early hours of yesterday morning. The man who left the candle unattended sustained first degree burns and was recovering in hospital. Sapa - SABC

I doubt that only 1.73 people live in a shack in Mandela Park, the fire average is 4 people per shack, and national housing average of 5 per shack. We estimate 221 citizens displaced by this habitat disaster.

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