UPDATE: Joburg CBD fire death toll passes 60; EMS expects figure to rise
Early on Thursday morning, the five-storey Osindiso building on the corner of Albert and Delver streets in Marshalltown caught alight.
JOHANNESBURG - The death toll from the building fire in the Joburg CBD has shot up to 63, with emergency services saying they expect the number to continue to rise.
Early on Thursday morning, the five-storey Osindiso building on the corner of Albert and Delver streets in Marshalltown caught alight.
Initially, 10 bodies were found and close to 50 people were injured and rushed to hospital.
Since then, more bodies have been discovered as firefighters attend to the active scene.
The scene in the Joburg CBD is gruesome as at least 20 covered bodies have been laid out on the street.
The death toll from the Joburg CBD fire has risen to 63.
' EWN Reporter (@ewnreporter) August 31, 2023
Firefighters are still working to put out the smoke of the charred building at the corner of Albert and Delver Streets.
Police say it was an abandoned building, with an estimated 200 people living there.#joburgcbdfire pic.twitter.com/w0qfXcRPQH
#joburgcbdfire
' EWN Reporter (@ewnreporter) August 31, 2023
Although the blaze has been contained, there is still a lot of smoke billowing out of the structure. TG pic.twitter.com/nE2bz6XsxT
There are also rows of fire trucks and ambulances along Albert Street where the building caught fire at around 1am on Thursday morning.
Firefighters are working through the building one floor at a time.
Although the blaze has been contained, there is still a lot of smoke billowing out of the structure.
Joburg EMS spokesperson, Robert Mulaudzi: "It's a formal building but inside, each and every floor there's partitions, which is like shacks inside. Hence you'll find in terms of the intensity of the fire and issues of structural integrity of the building."
He said that they had not scoured through the whole building yet and that the death toll was likely to rise even further.
