One person is known to have died and a child remains missing after a fire swept through the Kennedy Road informal settlement in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, on Sunday morning.

There are fears that more bodies will be recovered, as viral clips showed street upon street of scorched shacks. In some areas, the flames burned so violently that corrugated iron sheeting was twisted and burnt.

Firefighting services first responded to calls at around 3.00 am. The cause of the fire is not yet known, but eyewitnesses have said that it started when two unknown men got into an argument after a heavy night of drinking.

Ward 25 PR councillor Siboniso Sibisi told News24 that "there are suspicions that someone deliberately started the fire inside the house of the person he was arguing with."

It's estimated that up to 3,000 people have been left homeless by the blaze. Gift of the Givers and the South African Red Cross have been on the scene, assisting victims.

Compiled by staff writer