At least 73 people have died and dozens more were injured after a fire tore through a five-story building in central Johannesburg which had been turned into informal housing,
CNN reports.
Authorities said they have moved through the building floor by floor, searching for survivors and pulling out charred bodies and laying them on the streets. Children are believed to have been killed, according to local media.
The fire has now been extinguished, rescue officials said.
In addition to the dead, more than 50 other people were injured, according to Robert Mulaudzi, a spokesperson for the city’s emergency services.
Wiseman Mpepa, who survived the fire, told CNN he woke up to people screaming. After seeing the fire blocking the building’s exit, he broke his window, but struggled to climb through.
Mpepa said he tried to tell other people in the building to go a gate to exit the building, but the gate was shut. “They closed the gate,” he told CNN on the ground. “After that, I had no plan. I just sat (in my room).”
