Over 80 residents residing in a riverbed in Windhoek's Freedom Square were left destitute after 33 of their man-made shacks burned to the ground around midnight last night.

The fire left one resident seriously injured and admitted to intensive care at Katutura State Hospital.

Men, women, and children, all unemployed and otherwise homeless, are appealing for assistance.

Some say they have been forced to live here in a riverbed opposite the street from Jacob Marengo Secondary School for over 20 years now.

It is suspected that a resident fell asleep while cooking, leaving a lit candle burning.

One person was seriously injured and admitted to the hospital, while two more also received medical attention.

52-year-old Ewald Tjaarukapo says he was the first person to move to the river in the year 2000.

He is devastated, saying he lost everything he has worked hard for and is pleading with any good Samaritans for aid.

Theresias Gaweses says those affected have no choice but to live in this riverbed, in the open, with no sanitation facilities and without shelter from weather conditions.

Even being unemployed, she says they have children that are required to go to school.

Gaweses was asleep with her daughter when the fire broke out, she says, and she only woke up to the screams of people running for safety and screaming for them to get up.

The community is calling for assistance with food donations, corrugated iron sheets, blankets, and clothes.

Additionally, about 15 children lost their school books and uniforms, among other items, in the fire.