Uitenhage police have opened an inquest docket after a family perished in a shack fire in the Moeggesukkel informal settlement.
Police spokesperson, Captain Gerda Swart, said that a couple, both in their thirties, and their five-year-old child died in Tuesday night's blaze.
She said the police and the local Fire Department received a report after 10 pm that houses were on fire in the informal settlement.
"Upon arrival, two informal houses were burning and the fire was extinguished by the Fire Department. The bodies of the three victims were discovered in the debris," Swart said.
She said their names will be released after formal identification was done and next-of-kin notified.
"The cause of the fire is not known at this stage," said Swart.
