Booysens fire destroys 400 shacks, leaves 2,000 displaced (video)

The Gift of the Givers Johannesburg was on site on Friday night at a fire in a Booysens informal settlement that destroyed 400 shacks, displacing 2,000 people.

Gift of the Givers founder, Dr Imtiaz Sooliman said that their project manager Emily Thomas was on-site till 11pm assisting local authorities such as the disaster management, Metro police, and the ward councillors.

“Disaster management was efficient in putting out the blaze, cause unknown, and were successful in finding shelter for women and children. Fortunately, there were no fatalities in the four hundred shack destruction displacing 2000 people.”

He said they do expect families to move rapidly to secure their “land” and start rebuilding.

Spokesperson for the Metro Police Superintendent Wayne Minnaar said the fire started within the formal settlement.

“The shacks caught on fire, the cause of the fire will be investigated.”

ALSO READ: Separate fires destroy 300 shacks in Joburg

In a separate incident in Wynberg, Johannesburg an appliance warehouse caught on fire was destroyed during a blaze, which took firefighters close to two hours to extinguish.

Johannesburg emergency services spokesperson Nana Kgiba said they arrived at the scene, everybody had been evacuated from the premises.

Safety officers will be back on Saturday to determine the cause of the fire.

The Gift of the Givers will be in the area on Saturday to provide hot meals, food donations, clothing, stationery, and school uniforms will follow.

Those who want to make contributions can contact Gift of the Givers toll-free number 0800786911.

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