A fire broke out in a building in the Central Business District (CBD) of Joburg in the early hours of Thursday morning leaving 47 people dead.
It’s been confirmed that at least 43 people injured were injured.
Johannesburg EMS spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi said it was a five storey building on the corner of Alberts and Delvers street. He said on arrival people had already died, including a baby.
The cause of the fire is still being investigated.
Mulaudzi further explained it is a hijacked building that resembled an informal settlement inside.
“On arrival Firefighters started to evacuate all the people out of the building while conducting firefighting operations, 20 people were confirmed dead on the scene and 42 people were treated on scene and later transported to various health care facilities for further medical care.
“At this stage the cause of the fire incident is still a subject of investigations,” said Mulaudzi. Officials from City of Johannesburg Disaster Management have been activated to start facilitating relief for affected families.”
He said the number of fatalities is likely to increase.
Mulaudzi further confirmed a tremor that hit parts of the city of Joburg on Wednesday evening.
“This was mostly reported in Roodepoort, Soweto and surrounding areas. Even though there are no major incidents, we remain on high alert to make sure that we are able to respond to any area which might have been affected by the tremor,” said Mulaudzi.
This incident follows a recent gas explosion which caused the road to split in the CBD, leaving several injured and one dead.
This is a developing story.
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa.
