A fire in a building in Johannesburg has killed at least 73 people, including seven children. Over 50 other people got hurt.
The authorities are not sure what caused the fire at the five-story building in the city center. The building was empty, but homeless people were living there.
During a news conference, the city of Johannesburg admitted that they owned the building. However, they explained that it had been taken over by cartels.
The spokesperson for the emergency services, Robert Mulaudzi, told the BBC that firefighters were able to bring out some of the people inside.
He said the fire destroyed the building, and they were still looking for more people who might have been hurt or killed.
In a separate interview with Newzroom Afrika, Mr Mulaudzi said the youngest child who passed away was only 18 months old.
Officials who handle disaster management are there to assist and give help to people who have survived the disaster in that area.
Mr Mulaudzi said that once the emergency services were done looking for victims, they would give the scene to the South African police.
“We are going up the building to find and collect the bodies,” Mr Mulaudzi said.
Mulaudzi shared a video on platform X (formerly known as Twitter) that showed fire trucks and ambulances outside a building. The windows of the building were burned.
In simple words: Pictures showed dead bodies placed in a row near the building that had caught fire.
A lady talked to reporters saying that she was outside the building looking for her 24-year-old daughter.
She said that when she heard the building was on fire, she had to come here quickly to find her.
Now that I am here, I feel anxious and unsure because I do not understand what is going on. I am feeling very worried because I don’t know if my daughter is safe or not.
The building is in an area that used to be a commercial district in South Africa‘s main economic center. Mulaudzi said that it was being used as a place where people lived without official permission.
The inner city neighborhood is known for “hijacked” buildings, which means some undocumented immigrants, mostly from other African countries, have taken over these buildings illegally.
Mr Malaudzi informed the BBC that the building was empty before, but now homeless individuals have taken refuge there due to the extremely cold winter season.
He said that because there was no official agreement to live there with a contract, the building was not taken care of properly. Makeshift structures and trash made it difficult to find and save people.
Lebogang Maile, the politician in charge of housing in the province, said that there is a long-lasting problem with housing in the area, and there are 1. 2 million people searching for a place to live.
When the Mayor of Johannesburg, Kabelo Gwamanda, was asked if his administration would take the blame for the tragedy, he said that the government is handling the issue of cartels taking over buildings that is happening all over the city.
After the fire, lots of people in South Africa on social media are criticizing the harmful online attacks that certain individuals have made towards the fire victims and survivors.