WATCH: 350 left homeless after fire rips through informal settlement in Pretoria

Around 350 people have been left without homes after a fire swept through the Koos de la Rey informal settlement in Pretoria North on Thursday.

The City of Tshwane Emergency Services Department responded to a fire in the informal settlement after receiving multiple calls reporting that a fire had broken out.

Tshwane Emergency Services spokesperson Thabo Charles Mabaso said all the people living in the informal settlement had to be removed for safety reasons. He added that the shacks were there illegally.

The Gauteng Emergency Medical Services (Gauteng EMS) provided a buses to relocate the residents to a temporary shelter at Pretoria North Community Hall.

READ ALSO: 250 people left homeless after fire guts 45 shacks in Pretoria informal settlement

Mabaso said 220 blankets and 71 mattresses were issued to the residents that were most affected by the fire.

READ ALSO: Five children die in fire at informal settlement near Laudium in Tshwane

“Emergency services personnel arrived on the scene to find that multiple shacks that have been illegally built inside and outside a former factory structure were on fire. The first-arriving unit requested back-up, and a water tanker, a ladder truck and additional resources were dispatched to the incident to help contain and extinguish the blaze,” said Mabaso.

Two patients were treated for smoke inhalation and transported to Steve Biko Academic Hospital and Tshwane District Hospital. They were released on the same day.

The cause of the fire is not yet known and is being investigated.

This is the second fire in Pretoria in November. Pretoria Rekord reported that 250 people lost their homes at Plastic View informal settlement, when a fire destroyed 45 shacks.

According to Mabaso, one patient was treated for smoke inhalation and moderate injuries and transported to hospital. Three others were treated for minor injuries on the scene but refused to be taken to a medical facility.