At least 73 people died when an overnight fire destroyed a dilapidated five-storey building in Johannesburg used by the homeless, emergency services said on Thursday.
Some people living in buildings in South Africa’s largest city threw themselves out of windows to escape the fire and may have died as a result, a local government official said.
Seven of the victims were children, the youngest a 1-year-old, according to an emergency services spokesman.
Firefighters stand next to the bodies of victims at the scene of a fatal fire, in Johannesburg, South Africa on August 31, 2023. REUTERS
A further 43 people were injured in the fire, which broke out at about 1am in the heart of Johannesburg’s central business district, Johannesburg Emergency Services Management spokesman Robert Mulaudzi said.
Abandoned and dilapidated buildings in the area are common and are often taken over by people desperate for some form of accommodation.
City authorities refer to them as “foreclosed buildings.”
A woman looks upset after a deadly fire in Johannesburg, South Africa August 31, 2023. REUTERS
The body is placed outside the building as forensic workers and police watch.REUTERS
Mulaudzi said the death toll may rise and more bodies are likely to be trapped inside the building.
The fire took three hours to extinguish, he said, and firefighters were only working through three of the building’s five floors by mid-morning.
“Over 20 years in the service, I have never encountered anything like this,” said Mulaudzi.
Firefighters work at the scene of a deadly early morning fire, in Johannesburg, South Africa August 31, 2023. REUTERS
The interior of the building is effectively an “informal settlement” where huts and other structures have been removed and people are crammed into rooms, he said.
There were “barriers” everywhere that would have made it difficult for residents to escape the deadly fire and which prevented emergency crews from trying to work through the site, according to Mulaudzi.
Search teams found 64 bodies, and the chances of anyone found still alive hours after the fire broke out were “extremely slim,” he said.
Another angle shows firefighters working at the scene of a Johannesburg building fire on August 31, 2023. AFP via Getty Images
As many as 200 people may have lived in the building, witnesses said.
An unnamed witness told television news channel eNCA that he lived in an adjacent building and heard people screaming for help and shouting “We’re dying here” when the fire started.
Mgcini Tshwaku, a local government official, said there were signs that people lit fires inside buildings to keep warm during the winter.
As many as 200 people may have lived in the building, witnesses said. MILES via REUTERS
People walk past a building after a deadly fire in Johannesburg, South Africa, on August 31, 2023.REUTERS
Officials are investigating the cause of the fire.
After the fire was extinguished, smoke billowed out of the blackened building’s windows during the day.
Strings of sheets and other materials hung from several broken windows.
Bodies lie in the wake of a deadly fire in Johannesburg, South Africa August 31, 2023. REUTERS
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It is not clear if people have used the items to try and escape the fire or if they are trying to save their property.
Authorities said the fire had been largely extinguished, but smoke was still billowing from the windows of the black building downtown.
Strings of sheets and other materials also hang from some of the windows.
It is not clear if people have used it to try and escape the fire or if they are trying to save their property.
Mulaudzi said the building was effectively an “informal settlement” where homeless people had moved in to find accommodation without any formal lease agreement.
He said that made it difficult to search the building.
There may have been as many as 200 people living in the building, witnesses said.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
