Desk News :: Firefighters extiguish a fire in a building in Johannesburg on August 31, 2023. At least 20 people have died and more than 40 were injured in a fire that engulfed a five-storey building in central Johannesburg on August 31, 2023, the South African city’s emergency services said.- AFP photo<\/p>\n
A fire that engulfed a five-storey building killed over 70 people including children in central Johannesburg on Thursday, the South African city\u2019s emergency services said.<\/p>\n
Another 52 were injured, some suffering from smoke inhalation, and were taken for treatment at local hospitals, Emergency Management Services spokesman Robert Mulaudzi said.<\/p>\n
\u2018We have now 73 fatalities and 52 people injured who were transported to various healthcare facilities for further medical care,\u2019 Mulaudzi said.<\/p>\n
At least seven children were among those killed by the flames, in what is on track to become one of the deadliest fires worldwide in recent years.<\/p>\n
The youngest victim was less than two years old, he said. Some were left burned beyond recognition.<\/p>\n
Firefighters at the scene have put out the flames and are \u2018busy with damping down\u2019, while search and recovery operations are ongoing, Mulaudzi said.<\/p>\n
\u2018We are moving floor by floor conducting these body recoveries,\u2019 he told local broadcaster ENCA.<\/p>\n
An AFP reporter at the scene said emergency services were continuing to bring charred bodies out of the building, laying them down under blankets and sheets on the street outside.<\/p>\n
\u2018It is indeed a sad day for the city of Johannesburg… over 20 years in the service, I\u2019ve never come across something like this,\u2019 Mulaudzi said.<\/p>\n
It was not immediately clear what caused the blaze, which broke out overnight.<\/p>\n
Mgcini Tshwaku, a member of the city\u2019s mayoral committee in charge of public safety, said candles used for lighting inside the structure were a likely cause.<\/p>\n
The building, which has been evacuated, is located in a deprived area of what used to be the business district of South Africa\u2019s economic hub and was used as an informal settlement, Mulaudzi said, suggesting many may have been squatting there illegally.<\/p>\n
\u2018Inside the building itself there was a (security) gate which was closed so people couldn\u2019t get out,\u2019 said Tshwaku.<\/p>\n
\u2018Many burned bodies were found stashed at that gate.\u2019<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Illegal occupation of disused buildings in the city centre is widespread, with many said to be under the control of criminal syndicates who collect rent from occupants.<\/p>\n
Authorities estimated more than \u201880 shacks\u2019 were set up inside.<\/p>\n
\u2018The fire spread very quickly affecting different levels of the building because of the combustible materials used,\u2019 said Mulaudzi.<\/p>\n
The blaze was the deadliest in South Africa in recent years and one of the worst worldwide.<\/p>\n
In December last year, a fuel tanker blast near Johannesburg killed 34 people, while in June, flames ripped through a dilapidated building in the city and killed two children under 10 who were locked in an apartment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Desk News :: Firefighters extiguish a fire in a building in Johannesburg on August 31, 2023. At least 20 people have died and more than 40 were injured in a fire that engulfed a five-storey building in central Johannesburg on August 31, 2023, the South African city’s emergency services said.- AFP photo A fire that engulfed a five-storey building killed over 70 people including children in central Johannesburg on Thursday, the South African city\u2019s emergency services said. Another 52 were injured, some suffering from smoke inhalation, and were taken for<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2540,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,52],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","category-lead-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailysylhetersomoy.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2539"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailysylhetersomoy.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailysylhetersomoy.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailysylhetersomoy.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailysylhetersomoy.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2539"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailysylhetersomoy.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2539\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2541,"href":"https:\/\/dailysylhetersomoy.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2539\/revisions\/2541"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailysylhetersomoy.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailysylhetersomoy.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailysylhetersomoy.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailysylhetersomoy.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}