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.

A group currently residing at an informal squatter camp in Windhoek's Freedom Square is requesting the government relocates them.

There are currently 26 shacks accommodating about 64 people; however, they are overcrowded, forcing some of the inhabitants to sleep out in open spaces, even during the harsh winter.

There are 14 vulnerable children here who do not get social income grants because of a lack of national documents.

Teresia Gaweses has lived here for 6 years and lives hand to mouth by selling recyclables to scrap yards.