City of Cape Town completes counting and registration of fire victims

The City of Cape Town’s Disaster Risk Management Centre has completed the counting and registration of the victims of Saturday’s fire at an informal settlement in Khayelitsha on the Cape Flats.

A thousand homes were initially estimated to have been destroyed in the fire. It was later revised to about 200 shacks, but the city has now released the final tally which it has put at more than 300.

“The City’s Disaster Risk Management Centre can now confirm that 342 structures had been destroyed, displacing 1 355 people. City services are still on scene and the Informal Settlements Department is busy issuing kits for people to start rebuilding their homes,” says Disaster Risk Management Spokesperson, Mandy Thomas.