73 killed as fire guts 5-storey building in South Africa
(With Agency Reports)
More than 70 persons, including children were feared dead in a midnight fire that engulfed a five-storey building in central Johannesburg, South Africa, on Thursday, according to Agency Reports. The victims were largely, foreigners.
The reports quoting South African city’s emergency services said, another 52 were injured in what is on track to become one of the deadliest fires worldwide in recent years.
Channels TV citing AFP reports, quoted an official as saying that bodies were discovered piled up at a security gate that was closed preventing people escaping the blaze.
City authorities said the building in a deprived crime-ridden area had been turned into illegal housing after being abandoned. Most of those living there were foreigners, one resident said.
“We have now 73 fatalities and 52 people injured who were transported to various healthcare facilities for further medical care,” Emergency Management Services spokesman Robert Mulaudzi said.
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At least seven children were among those killed by the flames, the youngest under two years old, he said. Some were left burned beyond recognition.
AFP quotes a survivor as saying that he was part of a group that managed to break open a locked fire escape gate and run to safety, while others “jumped out” of the windows to save themselves.
The inferno, according to the emergency management authorities, has been put off by firefighters at the scene while search and recovery operations were ongoing.
Emergency services were continuing to bring charred bodies out of the building, laying them down under blankets and sheets on the street outside. It was not immediately clear what caused the blaze, which broke out overnight.
The building, which has been evacuated, is in what used to be the business district of South Africa’s economic hub and was used as an informal settlement, indicating that many may have been squatting there illegally.