At least 73 killed as fire guts rundown Johannesburg apartment block
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Fire raging at the five-storey building in a run-down area in Johannesburg, South Africa.
PHOTO: REUTERS
JOHANNESBURG – At least 73 people were killed overnight when a fire raged through a five-storey Johannesburg apartment block, one of the worst such disasters in a city where poverty, household fires and homelessness are widespread.
The building in a rundown area was gutted, blackened by soot and still smouldering on Thursday as emergency services gathered and bodies lay covered in blankets on a nearby street.
It was owned by the municipal authorities which, 12 hours after the blaze broke out, were still unable to provide a clear picture of who lived there. One official said some rooms may have been rented out by criminal gangs.
President Cyril Ramaphosa said he hoped an ongoing investigation into the causes of the fire would help prevent a similar tragedy from occurring in the future.
A 25-year-old survivor, known only as Leo, lived on the building’s second floor. He said he escaped with his mother via the stairs.
“People were just running away. It was dark and there was smoke. You couldn’t see anything,” he added.
At least one person jumped to his death, said Mr Thando le Nkosi Manzini, a student who saw the fire from the street.
“I saw a guy jumping from the fourth floor,” he told Reuters.
Firefighters at the scene of the deadly blaze in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The municipal government said at least 73 people died and 43 were injured in the blaze.
Johannesburg officials initially suggested the building was occupied by squatters.
Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda told reporters the municipality leased it to a charity for displaced women, but that it “ended up serving a different purpose”, without giving further details.
Mr Lebogang Isaac Maile, head of the Human Settlements department for Gauteng province, which includes Johannesburg, said some of those burned to death may have been renting from criminal gangs illegally collecting rent.
“There are cartels who prey on vulnerable people. Because some of these buildings, if not most of them, are actually in the hands of those cartels which collect rental from the people,” he told reporters.
Firefighters at the block which was on fire. At least one person reportedly jumped to his death.
Heritage building from apartheid days
A sign at the entrance to the block identified it as a heritage building from South Africa’s apartheid past, where Black South Africans used to collect their “dompass” – documents that enabled them to work in white-owned areas of the city.
Johannesburg remains one of the world’s most unequal cities, with widespread poverty, joblessness and a housing crisis. It has about 15,000 homeless people, according to the Gauteng government.
Household fires are common in Johannesburg, especially in poor areas. One of the poorest townships, Alexandra, had hundreds of homes razed in several fires over the past five years.
People walk past a building after a deadly blaze in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The city suffers from chronic power shortages, and many resort to using candles for light and wood fire for heat.
The authorities said the cause of the fire was under investigation.
Mr Maile said it “demonstrates a chronic problem of housing in our province, as we’ve previously said that there are at least 1.2 million people who need housing”. REUTERS
