A fire that ripped through a five-storey building in central Johannesburg on Thursday is a wake-up call for government to start addressing housing challenges in the inner city, according to President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Ramaphosa was addressing the media during his visit to the scene of the blaze in Marshalltown on Thursday night.
By Thursday night, more than 70 people had died and over 50 others admitted to the hospitals across the city.
“We are very saddened as a government about the passing of so many people here in Johannesburg. This is unprecedented,” Ramaphosa said.
“Johannesburg has never had an incident like this where so many people died as a result of a fire in the centre of the city.”
The president sent his condolences and that of government to the families of the deceased and wished the people in the hospital a speedy recovery.
“We’ve got to [get] to the bottom of what caused this fire. It’s a wake-up call for us to begin to address the situation of housing in the inner city that a building like this … once the lease had expired, it was then hijacked.
“We need to get on top of this and find effective ways of dealing with problems of housing and services in the inner city.”
The emergency medical services (EMS) in Johannesburg said of the people reported dead, 24 are females, 40 males, 13 children with the youngest being a year old.
The EMS said of the total figure, 10 bodies were burnt beyond recognition and their genders could not be determined.
When Sunday World visited the tragic scene on Thursday morning, the survivors shared how they faced death in the eye while others spoke about how escaped through the windows.
“It was so dark in the house and passage, so I had to jump out of the window. It was either I jump or I die in the fire,” said one of the survivors.
“Luckily, I stay on the first floor and I wasn’t badly injured.”
She said she lost all her belongings inside the flat.
“The only thing I have are the clothes that I am wearing. I left my cellphone inside and I don’t know how I will contact my family back home in the Eastern Cape.”
She added that she still does not know whether her neighbours are dead or alive.
Gauteng MEC for health Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko visited the fire victims who were receiving treatment at Helen Joseph Hospital and wished them speedy recovery.
Police are still investigating the cause of the blaze.
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