Six people, including three children, have died after their shack burnt to the ground in Moeggesukkel in Kamesh, in Kariega.
Spokesperson Colonel Priscilla Naidu says police attended to a complaint of a shack fire shortly after midnight on Thursday.
She says it is alleged that the family went to sleep during loadshedding and left a candle burning.
Colonel Naidu says when the mother woke up the shack had already started burning but she managed to escape with her husband through a window.
The couple's three children, three-year-old Asciwalise Ngqina and his two sisters, six-year-old Asipile and 11-year-old Ibanathi died in the fire.
Colonel Naidu says three other adults also died but their names are yet to be established.
The mother who escaped the flames sustained burn wounds to both her arms and hands while her husband sustained burn wounds on his face and arms.
Police say neighbours assisted in dousing the flames with buckets of water while waiting for the fire brigade to arrive.
An inquest docket has been opened for further investigation.
