By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
At least 74 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.
Authorities, led by City Manager Floyd Brink, held a media briefing at the City of Johannesburg’s Metro Centre in Braamfontein where they gave an update following the deadly fire.
Brink said approximately 200 groups of people were affected by the fire in the five-storey building.
The building, which belongs to the City of Johannesburg, was once used as a court during the apartheid era. Brink said the building had been leased as a shelter for abused women, but had been “hijacked” after the conclusion of that lease, with illegal water and electricity connections set up.
Brink said in a previous raid on the building, 140 foreign nationals were arrested and charged after being found in the building.
He called the tragedy an “unprecedented incident given the number of lives lost.”
The fire has now been extinguished, rescue officials said.
Acting head of forensic pathology services in the Gauteng Health Department, Thembalethu Mphahlaza, said 12 children were among the deceased.
“Among these 74 bodies, we have 24 females, 40 males, and an undetermined gender – which is 10 bodies, because those bodies were burnt beyond recognition. Among those that I have mentioned, we have 12 children.”
He said processes to prepare the bodies for identification by their loved ones were already underway at the Diepkloof mortuary.
“So far, we are busy registering those bodies, and there will be contacts that we’ll be sharing through the media for the families,” Mphahlaza said.
He added that for those bodies that could not be immediately identifiable, they would use the newly launched digital fingerprint system and DNA sampling.
The province’s Health Department released a statement on Thursday evening, urging affected families to visit the Diepkloof mortuary to identify their loved ones from Friday.
“The facility will also be open on Saturday and Sunday from 09:00 to 15:00. Counselling services will be offered to bereaved families,” the statement said.
At the same time, emergency personnel said they had also retrieved body parts which have not been linked to any of the deceased.
Former Johannesburg mayor and leader of ActionSA political party, Herman Mashaba, called the fire deaths “devastating” and “totally unnecessary.”
Mashaba said, that hijacked buildings exist “with the full knowledge of our national government,” adding that “in fact some of them are involved in this illegal activities.
“They make life difficult for the owner of the building, reaching a stage where people just really abandon the property,” he said.