Staff Reporter:

A fire in eastern South Africa’s Queenstown has left six Bangladeshis dead and one critically injured.

Bangladesh’s High Commissioner to Pretoria Shah Ahmed Shafi shared the information on Tuesday, citing the local Bangladeshi community in Queenstown.

He told that the fire broke out at around 3:00am local time at a shop where seven people were asleep.

“Six died in the blaze, while another suffered serious injuries and was admitted to hospital.”

“We have contacted the local law-enforcing authorities after learning of the incident. It is still not clear whether it was an accident or an act of sabotage,” the high commissioner said.

The area where the fire occurred is about 1,000km from Pretoria, he added.

Shafi has set off for the scene to assess the situation.