Johannesburg CBD fire: ‘there are shacks inside the building’
The inside of the Johannesburg CBD building was highly partitioned, which could have made it challenging for residents to flee the fire.
The City’s Emergency Management Services (EMS) warned that when search and recovery efforts are stepped up, the number of fatalities from the fire that destroyed a hijacked building in Marshalltown, in the Johannesburg CBD, on Thursday may rise.
CURRENT DEATH TOLL
Before 9:30, an updated death toll indicated that at least 64 bodies had been removed from the destroyed building. A toddler is among the dead.
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The inside of the five-story structure was highly partitioned, which could have made it challenging for residents to flee from the fire.
WHAT IS THE CITY OF JOHANNESBURG’S EMS SAYING?
City of Johannesburg’s EMS Robert Mulaudzi said manoeuvring was also very difficult for EMS officials.
“The building is a hijacked building. It is actually an informal settlement inside a building. So there is a lot of debris which we have to go through to make sure that there is no any other bodies which might still be trapped inside the building,” he said.
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Mulaudzi said from outside, the buildings looks formal, but there are countless partitions “like shacks” inside the densely-populated building which was occupied illegally.
“From the first floor to the fifth floor, it is an informal area hence you find the intensity of the fire. There is also the issues of the integrity of the building, it had been abandoned for so long, we have to exercise caution as we do this search and recovery operation.”
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“At this stage, the number of fatalities might increase. Since we have stopped firefighting operations, the fire has been extinguished, we are doing what we call search and recovery, just to make sure that each and every floor is checked for bodies,” Mulaudzi said speaking to broadcaster Newzroom Afrika from the scene.
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