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.

Two minor children, who are siblings aged 3 and 4, were burned beyond recognition in the early hours of this morning while they were sleeping in their traditional hut at Otjimanangombe village in Ruacana Constituency, Omusati Region.