Oscar-winning film-maker Craig Forest’s £1million luxury seafront mansion burns down in mystery blaze in South Africa

• Director Craig Foster, 52, million pound has been lost following a mysterious fire
• Nobody was injured in the blaze but the property the director’s property was lost
• The fire in Murdock Valley, South Africa,  was put out on Thursday morning 

Oscar winning octopus film boss Craig Foster lost his million pound home when his luxury seafront mansion in South Africa burnt to the ground in a mystery blaze while he was out.

The director, 52, brought delight to millions worldwide in My Octopus Teacher a film in which he also starred about his friendship with a female Atlantic Ocean octopus.

The movie showed him visiting his eight tentacled friend every day for a year building a remarkable trust with the mollusc and earned him an Academy Award at the 2021 BAFTA’s.

The four-bedroomed home where he lives with his Indian film-maker wife Swati Thiyagarajan in Simonstown overlooks False Bay in which he filmed the Best Documentary Feature.

Director Craig Foster, 52, lost him million pound home in Murdock Valley, South Africa, on Thursday after it went up in flames

Craig Foster (pictured) brought delight to millions worldwide in My Octopus Teacher a film in which he also starred about his friendship with a female Atlantic Ocean octopus

The Netflix documentary tracks Craig Foster forging a relationship with a common South African octopus 

Nobody was hurt in the blaze that strong winds turned into a fireball at the £1m property which was gutted in the tragedy but finally put out by a firemen from neighbouring fire stations.

Neighbour Matthew Steward said: ‘It was a pretty big fire and the roof was engulfed in flames but luckily nobody was hurt and the animals inside all got out. It was lucky it did not spread to other homes.’

The fire in the upmarket Murdock Valley area began at 10am on Thursday and was attended by Simon’s Town Fire and Rescue and the Cape Medical Response and was extinguished in two hours.

No one was harmed in the fire that started at 10am on Thursday morning 

Another neighbour who asked not to be named said: ‘That house was the HQ for My Octopus Teacher and it even featured a lot in the film and it had become a part of our local history here.

‘Craig and Swati will be just devestated as there could be decades of their film work inside and notes and irreplaceable research and even the Academy Award they won for their film’ she said.

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