Death toll rises after horror Joburg building fire

At the time of publishing, the death toll was nearing 60 while 43 others were injured in a blaze at a five-storey building in the Joburg CBD.

Joburg emergency services spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi says the fire broke out in the early hours of Thursday morning on the corner Alberts and Delvers streets.

"So far, the fire has been extinguished. Since the building itself is an informal settlement inside, we have to go through every floor just to remove any uncertainty in terms of other bodies that might still be trapped inside the building. 

"There is also a risk of structural integrity since the building has been hijacked, we have to protect our firefighters as and when we continue to conduct the search and rescue operation," says Mulaudzi.

Mulaudzi says more bodies might be recovered as the emergency services continue with the search operation.

"There is a possibility of more bodies being recovered because of the number of people who were residing inside the building and also informal structures inside the building.

"As soon as we are satisfied that the building is cleared, and we don't have any other bodies we will hand over the building to the South African Police Service since it is now a crime scene.

"We have activated other stakeholders in the city to come and assist the families that have been affected and facilitate relief," he says.

Mulaudzi confirmed that a baby who is between 1 and 2 years old was part of the 52 people who lost their lives.

He says an estimated 200 people might have been residing inside the building.

"At this stage, the cause of the fire is still a subject of investigation, however, since it is a hijacked building, there could be two or three possibilities, it might be an illegal connection or the heating devices which they are using, those are some of the possibilities."

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