Officials from the Johannesburg emergency services have reported that 52 people have died in the blaze that has engulfed a five-story building in the heart of the city.
According to spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi, 43 individuals were left injured.
It was also gathered that emergency personnel and firemen are attempting to extinguish the incident.
Videos taken at the scene show a building’s lower floor being consumed by enormous orange flames and a large number of people running away outside.
Emergency services spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi stated in a series of tweets sent on X, formerly known as Twitter, that numerous individuals were receiving treatment and some had been taken to medical institutions.
In another report by AP News, A search and recovery operation was underway and firefighters were moving through the building, Mulaudzi said. The team had pulled 52 bodies out so far, he said, adding that more people might be trapped inside.
At least one child was among the dead, spokesperson Mulaudzi said.
He also said the death toll might still increase.
Authorities said the fire had been largely extinguished, but smoke still seeped out of windows of the blackened building downtown. Strings of sheets and other materials also hung out of some of the windows. It was not clear if people had used those to try and escape the fire or if they were trying to save their possessions.
Mulaudzi said the building was effectively an “informal settlement” where homeless people had moved in looking for accommodation without any formal lease agreements. He said that made it hard to search the building.
There might have been as many as 200 people living in the building, witnesses said.
