The more than 200 shack owners who lost their homes in a massive fire at Walvis Bay have appealed to the municipality to give them plots.

The shack fire victims say congested residential areas are death traps during fire outbreaks.

Twenty-six shacks were ravaged by fire last night at Tutaleni in Walvis Bay.

Residents in the Khomas Hochland street at Tutaleni Walvis Bay were rudely awakened by a huge fire that started from one of the shacsks.

The municipality of Swakopmund has cautioned its residents to desist from illegal electrical connections and put out candles before they leave home or go to bed.

Nineteen people were left homeless after their shacks burned to the ground in Mondesa, near Swakopmund, on Monday.