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Giving details about the fire incident in South Africa’s Johannesburg, Emergency Management Services said several people were injured in the blaze, which broke out in the predawn hours on Thursday.
Johannesburg: At least 52 people died and more than 43 were injured after a massive fire broke out at a five-storey building in central Johannesburg on Thursday, the South African city’s emergency services said. “Right now, we have about 52 people who lost their lives and 43 people injured,” Emergency Management Services spokesman Robert Mulaudzi said.
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. At least one child was among the dead, Mulaudzi said.
At least 38 people were killed and more than 25 injured in a #fire that broke out in a five-storey building in central #Johannesburg, #SouthAfrica #Emergency #accident pic.twitter.com/HU07bo5jGt
— Chaudhary Parvez (@ChaudharyParvez) August 31, 2023
Spokesman Robert Mulaudzi said a search and recovery operation was underway, and it was likely the death toll would rise.
Authorities said that even as 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.
Emergency Management Services further added that several people were injured in the blaze, which broke out in the predawn hours Thursday.
Mulaudzi added that the building was effectively an “informal settlement” where homeless people had moved in looking for accommodation without any formal lease agreements. He further said that it was hard to search the building. There might have been as many as 200 people living in the building, witnesses said.
Videos from the scene show huge flames of fire engulfing the lower floor of a building, and scores of people who appear to have fled outside.
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