Nine people including an infant have perished in a devastating fire that spread through a section of the Gezeni informal settlement in Johannesburg in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
City of Johannesburg emergency services spokesperson Nana Radebe confirmed the incident to The Citizen.
![Gezeni shack ire](https://citizen.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/gezeni-2.jpeg)
Johannesburg EMS crews at the scene. The burnt-out structure in the background is where the blaze took place.
She said the cause of the blaze had not been confirmed, but the fire started in a “structure that houses shacks inside it”.
![Gezeni informal settlement on fire](https://citizen.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/gezeni-fire--899x1200.jpeg)
The blaze in the early hours of the morning.
This resulted in the fire spreading rapidly through shacks located close together.
Updates will follow as more information is made available.