At least 38 people have died in a fire at a building in Johannesburg, South Africa, authorities said on Thursday.
Emergency Management Services also said 43 people were injured in the structure fire in the country's biggest city. It is believed that the death toll will rise as rescue operations continue.
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Emergency Services spokesman Robert Mulaudzi said multiple people were being treated at the scene, and some had been transported to healthcare facilities.
#JoburgUpdates Firefighters , @CityofJoburgEMS are currently attending to a building on fire in the Joburg CBD corner Delvers and Alberts street .Ten people confirmed dead and multiple patients treated on scene transported to various health care facilities for further medical… pic.twitter.com/OZTrajIbAq
— City of Joburg (@CityofJoburgZA) August 31, 2023
Videos posted on social media from the City of Johannesburg show massive orange flames engulfing a building with crowds of people who ostensibly fled the structure outside.
Mulaudzi said the building was, in essence, an “informal settlement” for homeless people who could not get formal lease agreements, and this made it hard to search the building, per the Associated Press. The cause of the fire is being investigated.
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Authorities said the fire was mostly extinguished, but smoke was still present in the blackened building.
Johannesburg is located in the northeast of the country.