Shack fire kills five family members, teen survives

Tragedy in Ekurhuleni: Shack fire kills five family members, teen survives

Mapaballo Borotho

A shack fire at Steve Biko Informal Settlement in Ekurhuleni claimed the lives of five family members in the early hours of Monday morning.
Firefighters discovered the bodies of a couple and their three children after extinguishing the blaze.
A teenage boy survived as he was sleeping in a nearby outside room.

Five family members have been killed by a shack fire at the Steve Biko Informal Settlement in the City of Ekurhuleni. One teenager managed to escape without injuries.

Spokesperson for the Disaster and Emergency Management Services in Ekurhuleni, William Ntladi, says the responding team found a five-roomed shack engulfed by flames with entrapment upon arrival.

“Disaster and Emergency Management Services (DEMS) firefighters received the call around 23H48 on Sunday midnight, the 09th November 2025, for a well-alight shack at Steve Biko Informal Settlement, Etwatwa.

Crews from Etwatwa Fire Station responded promptly to the scene for intervention. The backup system was activated from Springs Central Fire Station immediately before arrival on the scene,” said Ntladi.

Ntladi says search and rescue operations began immediately after the blaze was dealt with and five burnt bodies were discovered under the burnt structural materials.

“All five (father, mother, and three children) were declared dead on the scene by paramedics. The surviving male teenager was asleep in his outside room, built a few meters away from the main house.”

The cause of the fire has not yet been determined and is currently under police investigation.

The scene has been handed over to South African Police Service officers for rehabilitation and removal of the deceased to appropriate pathological facilities.