"The death toll is 64, including seven children," Johannesburg Emergency Management Agency spokesman Robert Mulaudzi said of the casualties in the five-storey building fire, according to AFP. He added that 43 people were injured.
People gather near a burning building in Johannesburg on August 31.
Firefighters at the scene have extinguished the blaze and search operations are still underway. "We are moving floor by floor to bring out the bodies," Mr Mulaudzi told local television station ENCA.
An AFP reporter at the scene said rescue workers were continuing to remove charred bodies from the building, placing them under blankets and bedsheets on the street.
Firefighters work at the scene of a building fire in Johannesburg on August 31.
"This is a really sad day for the city of Johannesburg… in over 20 years of service, I have never encountered anything like this," said Mr Mulaudzi. It is not yet clear what caused the fire that broke out overnight at the building.
Spokesman Mulaudzi said the occupants of the building had been evacuated. The building that caught fire was located in a deprived area that was once the commercial district of South Africa’s economic heartland and was used as an informal settlement.
Mr Mulaudzi also said that "many people" could have been trapped inside when the fire started and that many could have been illegally occupying the building.
Illegal occupation of abandoned buildings in downtown Johannesburg is common, many of which are believed to be controlled by criminal gangs who collect rent from residents, according to AFP.
Source link
Comment (0)