At least 74 dead in Johannesburg fire
At least 74 people died in a fire incident in the South African city of Johannesburg on Thursday.
A night-time fire ripped through a rundown five-story building in Johannesburg that was occupied by homeless people and squatters.
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
— Reuters (@Reuters) August 31, 2023
Scores of people were killed as a fire gutted a rundown apartment block in South Africa's Johannesburg city https://t.co/h1PAjpnMoV pic.twitter.com/wxEOLejnGG
Witnesses said some people threw babies out of third-story windows to others waiting below in the desperate scramble to evacuate.
At least 12 of those killed were children, the youngest a 1-year-old, according to city and medical officials. They said at a news conference that an undetermined number of people were still missing and many bodies recovered were burned beyond recognition.
More than 50 people were injured, six of whom were in a serious condition in the hospital. Emergency services officials had earlier warned that the death toll could rise as they continued to search the scene more than 12 hours after the blaze broke out at around 1 a.m.
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