At least 63 killed, 43 injured in Johannesburg building blaze
The fire has now been extinguished, rescue officials said, and emergency services are conducting recovery operations
At least 63 people died when a massive fire ripped through a multi-storey building in Johannesburg, South Africa's biggest city, emergency services said on Thursday (August 31).
Emergency Services spokesman Robert Mulaudzi said another 43 people were injured, some suffering from smoke inhalation, in the blaze that broke out in the predawn hours. They were rushed to local hospitals for treatment. He said the death toll might still increase.
A search and recovery operation was underway and firefighters were moving through the building, Mulaudzi said. The team had pulled 52 bodies out so far, he said, adding that more people might be trapped inside. “We are moving floor by floor conducting these body recoveries,” Mulaudzi told local broadcaster ENCA.
At least one child was among the dead, Mulaudzi said. The fire has now been extinguished, rescue officials said, and emergency services are conducting recovery operations.
Authorities said the fire had been largely extinguished, but smoke still seeped out of windows of the blackened building downtown. Strings of sheets and other materials also hung out of some of the windows. It was not clear if people had used those to try and escape the fire or if they were trying to save their possessions.
Mulaudzi said the building was effectively an “informal settlement” where homeless people had moved in looking for accommodation without any formal lease agreements. He said that made it hard to search the building.
There might have been as many as 200 people living in the building, witnesses said. As per an official statement the cause of the fire incident is still a subject of investigations. “Officials from City of Johannesburg Disaster Management have been activated to start facilitating relief for affected families,” it added.
Fire trucks and ambulances were parked outside the red and white building with burned-out windows, which has been cordoned off by police, as a small crowd of onlookers gathered in the area.
Illegal occupation of unused buildings in the city centre is widespread, with many said to be under the control of criminal syndicates who collect rent from occupants.
(With agency inputs)
