Heartache after Isipingo shack fire
Hundreds of residents from a fire-ravaged informal settlement in Isipingo are trying to salvage what they can as they begin the gruelling task of rebuilding their lives.
The flames ripped through Dakota Beach on Saturday night, consuming more than 300 shacks.
About 80% of the settlement was reduced to ashes.
eThekwini firefighters worked throughout the night to extinguish the blaze and managed to save 50 homes.
No one was hurt or killed.
Executive committee member Andre Beegte witnessed the fire, and says the families who've been left homeless are still in shock.
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Total devastation is how he's described the scene.
"You could hear people shouting and calling for children. Although everybody got out not everybody knew where their loved ones were. The devastation on everybody faces. They sat together, other could not believe what had happened. It was sad. and heart-breaking."
According to firefighters, the blaze is believed to have started after a resident left a stove on. More than 500 people have been moved to a community hall.
"Some of the people we spoke to said they are not going to try and rebuild. A year ago was the floods in other instances very positive, you could hear hammers and saws. People managed to find wood and people started to hammer the structures together."
