Durban — At least 25 people have been affected by a fire that broke out at the Glebelands hostel on Friday night.
eThekwini Municipality spokesperson Lindiwe Khuzwayo said the City’s fire brigade responded.
“Our fire brigade responded to a call from Glebelands where they found the top floor of one of the blocks well alight, with fire coming through the windows. The fire brigade managed to get the fire under control and stopped further spread of fire to nearby flats. No people were reported dead, missing or injured,” she said.
Ubumbano Lwama Hostel chairperson Vusi Zweni said the fire was suspected to have been caused by load shedding, and more than 25 people were affected by it.
“We are suspecting that the load shedding caused the fire, because what we heard is that on Friday the electricity went off around 6pm, and when it came back at 8pm, the fire had started. Only blocks 48 and 47 caught fire, and it is reported that more than 25 people were affected by the fire,” he said.
Zweni also emphasised that this incident had nothing to do with the ongoing violence in the hostel.
“This is not the first time this has happened, and we are certain that it has nothing to do with the ongoing violence. It was just a normal fire accident suspected to be caused by the load shedding. The affected B2 block is the most peaceful section in the hostel. Luckily there were no fatal injuries reported during the fire,” he said.
This comes after the notorious hostel had experienced incidents of violence and crime.
Early this month there was a mass shooting in which eight people were killed.
A week later, Lerato Nonkawana, 30, from Bizana, Eastern Cape, who stayed in Block R, was shot dead near the entrance of the hostel while waiting for a taxi to get to work
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