At least 63 people died on Thursday 31 August 2023 in a fire that devastated a four-storey building in central Johannesburg on Thursday, the city’s emergency services said. «We found 63 bodies and we also have 43 people who suffered minor injuries,» emergency services spokesman Robert Mulaudzi told a local television channel.
The wounded, some of whom inhaled smoke, were taken to hospitals for treatment, he said. The fire that broke out in the night was extinguished and firefighters were busy Thursday morning looking for other possible victims. ‘We are going floor by floor’ in this research, Robert Mulaudzi explained, saying that the death toll could increase.
The cause of the tragedy was not yet known. The police, there, sealed the building. The building, a brick and white red building with burnt windows according to television images, is located in a disadvantaged area of the former business district of the economic center of South Africa. Residents had settled informally, according to the spokesperson.
